Unlikely Bonds
by Salzarrotta
Summary: A new evil threatens Mobius, and Sonic is once again rushing to the rescue. But an old rival competes against him on saving the world, and it's Eggman! Along the way, Sonic makes friends with a former enemy and finds love in the most unlikely of people.
1. A Loss and a Gain

Author's Notes: I had to edit a few things. Apparently some things about Chapter 1 was kinda fuzzy and dodgey at best. No worries though, I just hope this re-edited version is better. Let me know what guys think. Constructive Critisism is the pathway to a great Story.

Disclaimer: I don't think I need to say this but... Sonic and co. doesn't belong to me! They belong to the dudes and dudettes at SEGA.

Unlikely Bonds  
- A Loss and a Gain -  
by Cattz Salzarrotta

Somewhere in the vast and sandy beaches of Whale Island is an area known as Seaside Hill. This place was known for its cool breeze and sunny grass lands, but what made this vast field well known is its old but still beautiful temple ruins. People often visit these ruins for picnics and other outdoor occassions, it was a great place to relax. In the distance, a blue hedgehog races his way through the grass plains and makes his way to the ruins ahead, his speed was remarkable his movements was like the wind itself, the cooling breeze made quite an impression on his rather long quills and made them flutter sideways as he continued his journey towards the ruins.

His made his inside the ruins. The 'ancient' structure made any adventurer curious and eager to explore the grand temple. But this blue hedgehog wasn't here for that. He was here because he was in the need to be challenged. Although he enjoys the peace as much as the next person, he definately didn't enjoy staying put.

He would rather be running around and exploring the world, and these ruins were perfect for that. He kind of enjoyed the ruin's 'unique' structure, due to it being like a giant obstacle course. He originally never ventured this far within the ruins alone. But he was familiar with the place. Because a few years or so he and his friends went through these very ruins to find a way to stop a certain doctor's evil plan. But back then they only passed through the surface of the ruins, he never had the opportunity to visit the ruin's heart, but he had to admit... the ruins looked completely different from the inside.

The stones were more darker and the loops were steeper and certain platforms were no longer responding automatically like the ones before, the stone tiles were so rough that his red sneakers felt like they were wearing out from the friction. The eerie sounds, the crumbling walkways, made any who venture in regret going inside in the first place. He slowed down his pace a little as he took the time to take a look at his surroundings. He realized that he had reached the oldest parts of the ruins, everything just looked so old and so... breakable.

Just then a tile on the floor gave way. It felt like he stepped on a switch or something "Uh oh..." then the entire floor in front of him started cracking. Realizing that the floor might crumble, he started looking around for a way out... but it was too late... BAM! The floor exploded and started crumbling away at his feet.

With quick relfexes, the blue hedgehog jumped of the floor he was standing. But when he landed on another section of the floor, that to crumbled away "Oh man! Just my luck!" quickly reacting at the situation he looked around to see if there was a way out of this. After scanning the area, he noticed that the walls a little further down the hallway he was in were more compact. He quickly darted over towards that section of the ruins and with great ease our blue hero jumps off and started bouncing off and on the tight hallway in a triangular forward pattern.

As he continued his display of great agility, he saw a ledge on the right corner of the hallway's end. He worked his way towards the ledge and again with great ease he ends his feat with a spin ball towards the ledge and lands perfectly on the ledge's edge. Obviously pleased with himself he gestured his arms in an arrogant manner "Piece o' cake!" he said as he brushed of the dust from his arms and then continued his journey through the ruins.

The area he was on was pretty narrow, it would be impossible to run without bumping at the walls, so he thought maybe walking would be appropriate for now. The narrow path almost seemed endless, he had been walking down the narrow hallway for minutes! And he wasn't exactly the patient type.

"Come on! How long is this pathway! Seriously!" he said out loud. As he continued to stroll, he saw a light on the ceiling a few steps ahead of him "Finally."

The square opening was kind of high, so he paced himself for a high jump. He bended his knees and curled himself up like a ball and braced himself for a jump. With great leg strength he propelled himself upwards, but as luck would have it, he hit something along the way and fell right back down with a thud.

"Ow! Dude what the...?" he said rubbing the sore area of his head. As he looked up and surveyed the culprit of his induced pain he saw that there was an iron bar inside the opening "Would have loved to have known that earlier." he said out loud again as he stood up. He started to position himself for another jump. But this time holding on to the iron bar and then lifting himself up.

As he arrived at the top he found himself in a giant open room. The room was dome shaped and was designed to look like a Greek or Roman like palace. The tiles weren't just ordinary tiles either. They were smooth and totally different from the tiles from the outside or the inside of the ruins that he was in before.

"Its like being in Sally's palace..." he said out loud admiring the spectical. But as he focused more on what he just said, his fascination dissappeared, and was replaced by thoughts of the princess that he knew so well.

He smiled a little as he thought about Sally. It brought back some happy memories about living in the palace with her. But along with good memories... there were sad ones... at least one was...

He gave a big sigh as he sat down on the floor, he wasn't tired, he was just feeling a little sad... and sometimes sitting down helps you reminisce better. "Sally...". His memories of his long childhood friend were joyous. Each moment he spent with her didn't bring him any form of grief. He rembered when they were still kids that they were always together.

Always talking to each other about everything. There was a lot of good moments that they spent with each other. All but one that is... He drifted in his thoughts for a moment. But he quickly forced himself out of it as he was about to remember something painful. He shook his head violently as he reminded himself to forget about it. "I'm not to remember stuff!" he shouted to himself. And with that he stood up and went on roaming the giant room.

As he completely shook away what was doing earlier. He started to notice things he didn't notice when he first entered. He noticed that the air he was breathing was thin. He thought that maybe he was at the highest point of the ruins. Probably a tower of sorts. Another thing he noticed was that the room was devoid of any kind of valuables. Usually, these kinds of places have plenty of things lying around. Usually something like gold or diamonds. He also found that the room was more polished then the other parts of the ruins that he raced through... It was almost as if this room was untouched by time... It almost seemed beautiful even for its simple construction. But as he continued to admire the room's beauty, he still couldn't shake the feeling that something was odd about all this.

He stopped for a moment and turned his focus at something that he should've noticed first but didn't. Across the room, probably the center, was an altar. He approached the altar slowly. He felt something odd about it...

"I wonder what's up with that altar?" He said as he continued to draw closer. "It wouldn't hurt to get a better look at it..." He said trying to get rid of whatever it was that was worrying him.

As he finally got near the altar. He noticed something on it. Something small and round.

"It looks like an orb of some kind?" He squinted his eyes and reached out with his fore-finger and poked the orb comically.

Nothing happened. It seems to be just a regular orb he thought. But as he reached out for a second poke his body involuntarily pushed itself forward and knocked over the orb.

"Oops..." As he was about to rush towards the orb and prevent it from breaking, an unknown force is preventing him from stopping the orb's descent "It's as if someone's holding me back..." He grunted as he struggled free from the unknown force. But it was too late...

The orb smashed on impact with the floor and a blinding white light shot out causing blinding our hero. As he recovered from the blinding light he looked around and tried to find out if the orb had a nasty surprise for him. He looked around frantically and glared at every corner of the room.

"Nothing seems to be out of place... except for the orb of course... oh well no harm done I guess." Realizing that it was probably just a plain old orb, he discarded whatever feeling of dread he had and started walking away. But as he did he remembered that feeling of being frozen in place. He stopped for a short second and then started eyeing out his body for any abnormalties "What was that strange feeling just now... my body wasn't responding correctly..." thinking that it was nothing to to worry over and blamed whatever he ate earlier, he shrugged it off and started walking towards one of the openings in the room.

Looking out he could see clouds everywhere and then looking down he could see the ruins down below. It looked like a miniature toy city from where he was standing "Whoa... I'm pretty high up..." as he continued to look down a mischievous smile formed along his face. And with that he jumped off and started running down the side of the tower. But unbeknownst to our blue hero a dark figure walked across the ledge our hero jumped off.

*---*

Sometime later our hero speeds towards Station Square for a much well deserved lunch. It was around one in the afternoon. It was just about time for lunch. Station Square was a great place. He made his home here ever since he got here a few years ago. He can't explain it for sure... but being here just made him feel very comfortable.

He eventually makes his way to the park and stops near his usual food stand "Three chili dogs and a soda dude." He said pointing at the vendor.

"Right away sir." the vendor replied and started to cook up some chili dogs.

As our hero awaits his order a familiar voice calls out to him from the distance "Hey Sonic! Sonic!" the voice said.

As our hero looks towards the direction from where the voice came from, he sees a little fox kid running towards him.

Sonic squinted his eyes and looked at the kid more closely... After confirming who it was, he gestured the kid to come over "Hey there little buddy what's up?" He said as the little kid approached him. Sonic's friend stops in front of him and takes a moment to catch his breath. Sonic's friend's face appeared slightly blue, which contrasted with his yellow orange fur.

His two tails were drooping downwards due to his obvious signs of fatigue, "I've *huff* been *huff* looking *huff* all over the place for you! *huff* Where have you been?" a hint of worry was on his friend's voice as he spoke.

Sonic smiled, he knew he'd worry about him, after all, he worry's about everything. Even during the World Gran Prix he couldn't stop lecturing him abou how the gear was like this and like that.

Sonic decides to ease his friend's worry "Sorry little guy I've been exploring the Seaside Hill ruins. Why, Did something happen while I was away?" he asked the still panting fox kid while turning to see if the vendor was down with his order.

Finally catching his breath Sonic's friend looks towards him with great concern. But Sonic didn't take notice. He was too busy reaching for his soda which the vendor placed in front of him earlier.

"Sonic! Every one of our friends have been abducted by a bunch of creeps wearing black and gold suits!" His friend shouts with worry in his tone.

The news made him knock over the soda. The soda fell to the ground near the vendor and making a rather sticky mess on the vendor's part. Sonic didn't even notice what he just did and just turned around to face his little buddy."What!?" The news was quite a shocker to him. Why now he thought. He wasn't expecting anything bad happening while he was gone. It's only been a month since the events in Babylon Garden. He wasn't axactly ready to deal with another problem so soon!

"When did this all happen!" Sonic still couldn't take the news, but Sonic's friend just waved his arms sideways towards him.

"It happened just a few minutes ago. And I think they're still after- oh no... there they are!" Sonic's friend said, but he changed words in mid-sentence as he saw black spots moving across the ground to his right.

"Oh man! I didn't think they'd get here so fast!" Sonic's friend said backing away slightly and placing his hands over his mouth in horror. As the spots got closer to them an arm burst forth from one of them and grabbed Sonic's little buddy.

"Sonic! Help!" Sonic's friend yelped as he struggled free of the hand's grip. Sonic was caught off guard by the sudden burst and outcry of his friend. After he recovered from his shock. He quickly jumped at the hand.

"Don't worry little buddy!" He said, trying to pry open the hand. As Sonic attempted to save his little buddy. Two of the other black spots moved towards him and morphed into humanoid creatures and started assaulting Sonic.

"Who are you guys?" he said as he was tossed to the side and off of the hand that gripped his friend. Sonic stood his ground in battle position and stared at the enemy in front of him. He definately never saw these guys before... They wore full body suits with matching gauntlets and greeves lined with gold. They also wore helmets that completely hid they're faces. The enemy kind of resembled a half bee half mantis-like creature. As Sonic prepared to kick the creeps butts his friend was being pulled into the black spot deeper and deeper.

"Tails! No!" Sonic rushed to his rescue but the guys in suits were blocking his path "Get off!". He yelled.

The suit guys were tough... Tougher than any enemy he faced before... But he wasn't going to let up for a second! But as Sonic faught the enemies in front of him. He didn't realize that Tails was already taken into the black spot and disappeared. Realizing that they couldn't keep up with Sonic. The suited dudes morphed back to black spots and disappeared as well.

"What?" Sonic said, shocked by their disappearance. But his shock quickly turned to dread as he realized that Tails was no longer with him...

He fell to his knees and struck his fist to the ground with great anger. "No... how could I let them get away with Tails..." He said, beating himself up over his failure to protect his best friend... But his anguish didn't last for very long. He stood up and clenched his fist as fire blazed in his eyes. He knew nothing of this new enemy. But he was sure that this new enemy was under the control of an old one. "This must be another one of his dirty works!" He growled and gritted his teeth. And in the blink of eye Sonic dashes away.

*---*

Knowing full well that a majority of the incidents that happen to him and his friends are caused by a certain mad scientist. Sonic rushes towards this individual's base of operations to get some answers and save his friends. Assuming that MeteoTech was still under construction from the previous adventure he had. He darted towards one of this individual's bases that was nearest to MeteoTech. Which was the desert base called Bullet Station. To his surprise however on his arrival at Bullet Station the base was in shambles.

"Whoa... what happened here..." Sonic looked on bewildered at the destroyed base with awe at the level of destruction. The base was in really bad shape... Sonic felt a little worried as his grip on his fist tightened.

"If he really is behind this... I hope that my friends are the ones responsible for this." Dismissing a dread that crept along his spine he hops on the nearest railway and grinds towards the base.

The pathway going towards the base was in pretty bad shape. Some of the railings weren't even connected anymore and Sonic had to switch from rail to rail more often then he used to.

"Oh man... if only this base had more running ground this would have been easier." He said in a lowered voice. Sonic wasn't one to complain but with things the way they are, he couldn't help it. Eventually making his way to the base Sonic enters an opening in the wall next to him.

The base looked horrible. It looked like the place was trashed by an army of some kind. And there was no way his friends could have done all this by themselves. Sonic placed his hand in a piece of what seems to be a wall next to him as he examined the damages.

"Judging from the dents I'd say a brawl happened here... and judging from the holes I'd say that it also involved gunfire..." He said feeling even more worried. He started looking around for clues in the hopes that his friends weren't involved in any of this. As he looked around more, he saw a trail of blood on the floor to his left just around the corner at the end of the corridor he was in.

"Didn't think bots were capable of bleeding..." Sonic said jokingly. But he was kinda worried about whose blood that was.

"I hope that blood isn't from who I think it is..." Sonic dashes towards the direction of the blood hoping to find some answers as whose it was and hoping it doesn't involve his friends.

The blood trail eventually led him to a giant hangar door. There was a giant hole on the right side of the door "The blood trail continues through..." he peeked the inside the hangar.

It was dark, he couldn't even see the blood trail anymore. The hangar though looked less damaged then the rest of the base. I guess the brawl had to end eventually... he said to himself silently as he entered the hangar.

The hangar still looked pretty bad. The place wreaked with the stench of oil and machine parts were scattered everywhere. The only source of light was from the other side of the hole Sonic went through. He needed to find a light switch. He started looking around the wall near the entrance.

He started feeling around for a light switch as he walked over to the wall "There must be a light switch nearby..." As he continued to feel around he noticed that there were bumps and dents on the wall. He didn't bother thinking what caused the bumps and just continued to feel around for the light switch. After feeling around the wall he eventually found the switch. Flipping the switch, the hangar lit up. And as it did he saw a wrecked up Egg Albatross from one of his previous adventures dangling from the ceiling with cables.

"Wow... I never realized how big that thing was." Sonic said walking up to the giant airship. Trying to reminisce on old times again he didn't notice that someone was in the hangar with him.

"Hey you! Wait... SONIC!?" Sonic turned around and saw a figure standing in the shadows. Apparently not all the lights turned on. The far right corner of the hangar was still pretty dark.

As the figure limped closer his visage became more and more visble, a slightly torn apart black pair of boots which were attached to a pair of black tights and topped over by a red lab coat with silver buttons covered this unknown individual's body. But the individual's identity was revealed as a large bushy mustache attached to a sharp red nose wearing a pair of dark lensed glasses came into view and Sonic immediately recognized who it was.

"Eggman!? What happened here!? But more importantly... what happened to you!?" Sonic said in aghast at seeing the Eggman's condition.

*---*

After applying first aid and a quick change of clothes Eggman looked liked nothing even happened to him. He adjusted his buttons and tightened his glove as he paced about the hangar. "I guess I should thank you for your assistance... so thanks..." Eggman said. Not the type to thank anyone but himself, he forced himself to thank Sonic for his services. Even though it left a bad taste in his mouth, he had to thank him. If it wasn't for Sonic he would have bled to death.

"Don't expect me to repeat those words anytime soon." he said as he took a broken down piece of metal on the floor and made a make shift chair for himself.

"Aren't you gonna tell me what happened?" Sonic asked, he came here thinking Eggman was responsible for his friends abductions but he was feeling a little doubtful that Eggman had anything to do with it. But then again this is Eggman we're talking about.

Sonic just waited for the doc's answer as he watched the doc cross his arms and showing no interest at the hedgehog's question. "Are you even listening to me?" Sonic said but Eggman just sat there being silent. Sonic was tapping his foot impatiently at the doctor.

"Hey! I asked you a question!" Sonic was getting irritated. Eggman still ignored his words. Sonic stopped tapping his foot and started clenching his fists. Seeing Sonic's annoyance the doctor nodded his head and cleared his throat.

"Alright, alright I heard you, I just needed some time to collect my thoughts." Eggman said. He was obviously just trying to annoy the hedgehog. Which was working and Eggman was well aware of that "Okay, first off I was attacked by some guys in black and gold suits..."

Sonic's temperment cooled down at the mention of the suit guys "So you were attacked by the same guys who attacked my friends..." Sonic said cutting off Eggman.

"Let me finish first!" Eggman said with a slight hint of anger in his voice. Sonic crossed his arms and rolled his eyes as he gestured the doctor to continue.  
"Where was I... okay, these guys just busted in my base and started wrecking the place just out of the blue! Theen they started trying to abduct me. But they failed miserably! Mwuhohohoho!" he said as he gave his little annoying laugh.

Sonic couldn't stand that laugh. He can usually take hearing that laugh but now wasn't really the time for it. "This is serious! Stop laughing!" Sonic said stomping his foot to the ground.

"I have no obligation to listen to you!" Eggman shouted.

"That's it!" Sonic pounced Eggman and started pounding away at him. Which the doctor returned with equal zeal.

After what seems to be an hour of beating the snot out of each other. They slowly began to cool they're jets. Sonic started brushing off the dirt and grime that he got from the brawl and looked at Eggman.

"Alright... enough. We need to calm down and take this thing more seriously." he said to Eggman.

Eggman did the same and started polishing off his glasses "Agreed..." he replied. Afterwards Sonic continued his question to Eggman.

"As I was trying to say. Any idea why they were here and why they attacked you?" Sonic asked the disgruntled scientist.

"How the heck should I know?" Eggman replied in a sort of grumble.

After a while Sonic told Eggman what happened to Tails. Eggman pondered the idea and was seemingly intrigued by the situaion. "I see... if what you say is true... then that means that people other then your friends might have been abducted as well... What exactly did you do to make all this happen?" Eggman asking Sonic with his hand cupped on his chin.

Sonic did the same thing and started pacing the floor thinking of a reason. Several questions popped into his head as he did. Like, What could have caused all this? And why? Why my friends? And who are those guys in suits? Could it have something to do with what happened in Seaside Hill? Or is this even bigger then I think? Maybe... after a while of thinking he stopped and looked towards Eggman.

Thinking it best that he knew what happened today "It must have something to do with what happened at Seaside Hill."

"Oh really? What happened?" Eggman asked as he went back to his seat.

"I'll tell you later. Right now we need to find out what's going on. I hate to have to ask this but.... I could use your help Eggman." Sonic requested hesitantly.

Eggman rubbed his chin as he did not find the idea working with Sonic a viable option. Especially since he is his eternal nemisis. But he wasn't just going to sit down and let those suit guys get away with what they did! After all Eggman wasn't the kind of guy to let things go. And Sonic can vouch for that. Besides he was curious as to what happened at Seaside Hill... maybe he could take use this oppertunity to... nah! All I want is revenge on those suit guys! And I could always just beat up Sonic later! Eggman thought.

"I hate to say it, but very well." Eggman said as he stood up from his chair.

"But may I suggest we look around a bit to find out if any of our allies are still around and ask for their help." He continued. Sonic nodded and soon he and Eggman set off for Station Square.

*---*

It was a long way towards Station Square so Sonic and Eggman took the Egg Mobile to make the trip short and quick. Along the way Sonic explained to Eggman what happened at Seaside Hill. Much to the scientist's fascination.

"Intriguing... that orb could most probably be the source of all this. It must have been a seal of some kind..." Eggman stated and Sonic crossed his arms as he leaned on his seat.

"Whatever it was. I have a feeling that things are gonna get worse...". Sonic couldn't help worry about the situation. After all, look what those suit guys did to Eggman's base. Not even he could have done that so quickly without some help... Who could be behind this? Sonic thought.

Upon nearing the city limits both individuals were shocked to see the city in shambles similar to Eggman's base. They're jaws dropped at complete unison.  
"What the...!?" Sonic said. He can't help but jump out of his seat at the sight he is seeing... the city looked like when Chaos was in the city from one of his previous adventures. It wasn't a pretty sight.

"We gotta do something!" Sonic felt he had to do something. His hero instincts were screaming at him to run ahead. But as he was about to jump off Eggman grabbed his tail.

Sonic didn't like the way Eggman just grabbed his tail. How dare he! As Sonic raised his fist about to clobber the doctor. But Eggman interrupted him.

"Hold on Sonic! Wait till we get there! You have to stay calm!" the doctor shouted at the angry hedgehog. Sonic let his arm down and yanked his tail off of Eggman's hand.

"But a lot of people could be hurt!" Sonic protested shouting back at the doctor.

"I know that! But going there alone won't change anything. I'll send my Eggbots to the city so just calm down!" Eggman said trying to convince Sonic.

Sonic knew that he couldn't face the suit guys alone... so he gave a sigh and yielded. Not wasn't very fond of agreeing with Eggman but he's got to grin and bare it if he was going to save the city... as they flew closer to the city his patience slowly dwindled.

"Can't this thing go any faster!" Sonic shouted at his supposed new ally and Eggman just rolled his eyes. Even though you can't really see his eyes you can tell he did so from the motion of his eyebrows and the light shining off his glasses.

"Your so impatient." Eggman said.

"Deal with it." Sonic said as he crossed his arms.

Sonic couldn't take having to sit by as the city was under this condition... it was really something Sonic couldn't contain... he shouted in his head the words 'hurry up!' repeatedly as he tapped his foot at supersonic speed.

Upon arrival on the scene Sonic immediately hopped off the Egg Mobile and got ready to dash off. "I gotta go see if anybody got hurt." he said and Eggman scrambled off his seat to get Sonic to calm down.

"Wait Sonic it would be safer if you stayed here and let my Eggbots handle this!" Eggman said tumbling over himself.

Sonic didn't have time for this! Each second that passes by could mean a citizen getting hurt! "Sorry doc but you know me, I can't just sit around doing nothing." he said. As Sonic was about to dash off, the building across the street blew up.

The aftershock made Sonic lose his footing "Oh man! What the heck was that!" Sonic said as he stopped for a second to stare at the source of the explosion and looked at the large shopping mall across the street.

That's near the coffee shop... but his thoughts were cut off as he saw someone falling from the building "Hey! There's someone in trouble!" in a split second Sonic rushed to the falling individual.

"This is turning out to be a bad day..." As he was nearing the area of the building that blew up he could see the body of the victim. The individual looked unconscious "Hold on I'm coming!" Sonic jumped off as he neared the building and managed to catch the victim in mid-air. He gave a sigh of relief as he landed carrying the victim in his arms.

"That was close..." As he looked down to see who it was he rescued his eyes widden. He knew who the victim was! "No it can't be!"

After finally parking the Egg Mobile. Eggman gets off and started looking around for Sonic. "Damn that blasted little rodent!" He cursed at the air. Eggman also took the time to call in to some of his Eggbots to fly over to Station Square to take care of the situation and survey the surroundings "Shouldn't be long now... but where the heck did Sonic go? Typical of him to just run off and be a hero." Eggman bent over and started setting up his radar system to keep track of his Eggbots as they made their way to the city.

All the while Eggman was talking to himself "Thinks he's so cool..." But he didn't have to look for too long because the blue dude with 'tude was already heading towards him "Ah, looks like he's coming back..." But as Eggman looked on he saw that Sonic was carrying something around his arms... Wonder what he's carrying? Could it be that guy who fell from the collapsed building? Eggman thought while scratching his head.

To be Continued...


	2. The Thief, The Rival, and the Hero

Author's Notes: There... hope the re-edit is better... Anyway, feel free to give out pointers to any mistakes. Constructive Critisism is the pathway to a great Story.

Disclaimer: Sorry to bother you guys again but... Sonic in co. doesn't belong to me! They belong to the dudes and dudettes at SEGA.

Unlikely Bonds (Chapter 2)  
- The Thief, The Rival, and The Hero -  
by Cattz Salzarrotta

Eggman's Eggbots were about finished with their reconnaissance of the city. It didn't take them too long to repel the enemy. Eggman expected the enemy to be vast in number... but there were only the size of a small army. At least compared to his army that is. After looking over the data Eggman found that the majority of the citizens were safe, some were injured but safe. Eggman thought to himself and making a mental note to tell Sonic about the city's condition. He couldn't believe what he was doing. He was collecting data and helping his life long rival save the world!

The thought just sickened him, but it wasn't like he had a choice... If only those blasted suit guys left me alone... I wouldn't have to be here and do this for that blasted hedgehog! Eggman shouted in his head as he continued to collect data from his Eggbots. Eggman looked over his shoulder with a half dirty half annoyed stare at whatever Sonic was doing.

Sonic was still tending to the injured person he rescued from the collapsed building. Eggman's expression changed as he saw what Sonic was doing. "Looks like there getting to know each other... better let them be for now." Eggman said and then continued with his data.

Most of you may not know this but Eggman is quite a gentleman. But that side of him is usually overshadowed by his constant plans for world domination. As he collected more data, he found something odd that one his Eggbot's found "What the-"

Sonic was starting to add the bandages. It's difficult to wrap bandages to a female patient if your a guy. It wasn't the wrapping part that was hard... it was the 'doing it the most descent way possible' that was challenging. And the rather 'skimpy' outfit she wore didn't exactly make things easier... she wore a simple pair of white thigh high boots, and gloves that matched their length. She only had on a black skin tight body suit, which was torn up in certain places, and a large heart shaped breastplate to hide her rather impressive busom.

He normally didn't have to do these kinds of things... but he had to... it was a friend after all. As he continued his work the patient started to open her eyes slowly.

"Good, your awake." Sonic said as the patient started to slowly sit up.

"What... happened...?" The patient said shakily. She was still dazed from the incident.

"You know... you could have killed yourself doing that... lucky I was there." Sonic told his patient while he continued wrapping the last of the patient's injuries.

While rubbing the side of her head, the patient remembered the explosion and started feeling around as if shocked to have survived. A sudden jolt of pain hit her as she held her hand at her ribs. "Don't strain yourself..." Sonic said placing his hand on her shoulder. The patient squinted her eyes as she looked at her savior. Her vision was still kind of blurry and all she could see was a blue blob in front of her... as her vision focused she slowly recognized who it was. It was Sonic! she was a little surprised by this.

She wasn't expecting Sonic of all people to save her... but knowing who saved her didn't really change her thoughts about the situation. "I could have survived that fall even without you saving me you know!" the patient said. She was upset and showing any form of weakness was not in her nature to do. And she wasn't going let that change now. Not even for Sonic! She tried turning around and look away but the pain was a little too much to ignore.  
"Owww..." the patient said in a low voice trying to hide the obvious feeling of pain. Sonic just smirked as he watched her act tough.

"Try not to move too much." Sonic said sounding motherly.

"Oh like your such an expert!" the patient shouted and pouted at him. Sonic just laughed. "What's so funny!?" the patient asked infuriated.

"Nothing." Sonic said coyly as he continued to laugh and the patient continued to pout.

Sonic finished wrapping the bandages on her wounds and moved on to add the splints for the patient's left leg. "Okay... can you move your leg a little..." Sonic asked as he pointed out what he was going to do next. She wasn't sure if she should let him do that... she knew Sonic but she didn't know him well enough to let him do this sort of thing for her. She never even asked him to do this in the first place!

"Hey! I don't need you helping me alright!" she shouted "I don't need your help..." she said as she tried to act as tough as she could. Such was her nature.  
Sonic raised his eyebrow questioningly as he felt kind of hurt... Man... doesn't she trust me... I saved her life after all! "I saved your life. Can't you at least trust me enough to let me help you." Sonic said.

He did make a good point... but... "I don't need your pity! I'm not a charity case!" she shouted at Sonic.

Sonic gave a 'come on!' gesture with his arms and shook his head "Rouge... You need that leg patched up. Here let me-" Sonic said as he gently reached for her leg, but Rouge wasn't going to have any of it! She swiftly smacked Sonic's hand away.

"I said I don't need any help!" she shouted and Sonic just looked at her stunned.

What the heck did I do to deserve this... he thought as he slapped his hand over his forehead. Oh man, doesn't she at least appreciate what I'm doing for her! I already have problems as it is! She should be thanking me for taking the time to help her out! And why should I care about fixing her up anyway! He said to himself with anger. But he knew he couldn't just leave her like this... Morals... he imagined himself shaking his fist in the air.

As he continued thinking to himself with his hand over his face he didn't notice that Rouge was already trying to get up. But her leg couldn't support her weight and she crashed to the floor. "Rouge!" Sonic said as he rushed over to her. Rouge just pushed his arm away.

"I said I don't need your help!" she said sounding kind of weakly. She was much too proud to admit her fault and just sat there... Sonic sighed and sat there beside her.

*---*

They remained silent towards each other for what seems to be an eternity. Sonic wanted to help Rouge out but she was being very difficult as usual. "Rouge... why can't you just let me help you?" Sonic asked with a gentle voice. Rouge didn't want to answer the question. Her head was swirling with so many questions... Why would Sonic be willing to help her... he didn't have any reason to be nice to her. As she recalled, he doesn't owe her... why be so nice... but he did save her life... she backed off a little as she closed her eyes.

Sonic scratched his head. He didn't know what to do... Why is she being so stubborn? "Come on... all I want is to help you out." Sonic said innocently. Rouge still didn't want to believe the blue hero. She was always thought that one should never do things without gain. This is what she thought was the principal of life.

What would Sonic gain from helping her? "You don't have anything to gain from all this... what exactly are you after..." Rouge said still avoiding eye contact with Sonic.

"Nothing. I just want to help a friend out." Sonic said acting like it's just that simple.

Just wanting to help a friend out? Since when did Sonic consider her a friend? They barely even know each other! The only thing they have in common about each other were they're connections to Shadow... "I don't get you... why go through all this trouble?" Rouge asked. She still didn't quite get the situation.

Sonic just shook his head and gave her a reassuring look "Because that's just the way I am." He said with a smile.

Those words... it made Rouge think very deeply on the matter... Why would he be willing to give up his spare time for her? why act so nice all of a sudden. Maybe there's another reason for him acting so nice to her. She wasn't sure herself... but Sonic wouldn't lie. Maybe he really meant what he said...

The silence between the two returned. She was still unsure about the situation... and Sonic was getting tired of waiting for an answer. He balled up his fist and placed it under his chin as looked away to give her some time to collect her thoughts. He never had to do this sort of thing to any one... in his long years of saving people's lives he never paid anyone so much attention before. It was always 'zoom in, save their lives, zoom out'. Although some rescues took longer than that but you get the idea. As he sat there waiting on Rouge's next reply. Eggman was walking towards them.

Realizing that he is in no position to get caught by a government spy, he hid himself in the rubble so as to not get Rouge's attention as he tried to get Sonic's. A few whistles a few hisses and Sonic barely even noticed him. Is he deaf or something!? A little frustrated he picked a pebble and threw it to Sonic. Sonic felt something hit him in the face. Something hard.

"Ow, what the?" Sonic looked around for the source of what hit him and saw a hand waving behind the rubble in front of him. Sonic had a pretty good idea who it was... Sonic stood up and started walking towards the rubble as he looked back to Rouge. "I'm gonna go check on something. I'll be right back." Sonic said to Rouge but she was still deep within her thoughts to hear what he had to say. Sonic just shrugged it off and went on his way.

Sonic walked across to the rubble and went behind it. As he suspected Eggman was there scrunched up on the floor. "What?" Sonic asked the doctor as Eggman stood up slightly and checked on Rouge. She was still deep in thought. Being as good as any time to have a word with Sonic he quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him close behind the rubble.

"I can't stay here for long." Eggman said in a whisper. Sonic pulled his arm away and gave the doctor an angry look.

"You didn't have to grab so hard... Anyway... why the rush?" Sonic asked. Eggman looked all over his surroundings he was acting kind of strange...

"Those suit guys didn't put up much of a fight when my Eggbots showed up..." Eggman said as he leaned closer to Sonic.

"What exactly does that mean?" Sonic said as he leaned closer as well.

"It means that... someone or something was here before we arrived..." Eggman said lowering his voice.

Sonic looked puzzled "Who might that be?" he asked the doctor.

Eggman raised his head to check if anyone was listening in "I don't know... but I have to head back to my base to make sure... Unfortunately I can't bring you with me..." he said.

Sonic looked a little troubled "Why is that?" Sonic felt like Eggman was ditching him or something.

"Don't get me wrong... I want to get even with the suit guys... but once this is all over we go back to being mortal enemies again. And I can't have you knowing where my bases are..." Eggman said as he leaned away.

Sonic could understand that... it wouldn't be fun trying to find Eggman's bases if he knew where it was. "Okay, but why only tell me? Can't you tell this to Rouge as well?"

Eggman waddled away from the rubble as he stood up and dusted himself off "I can't trust her Sonic... she's a government spy and I'm an enemy of the government. I don't want to go to jail anytime soon."

Sonic raised an eyebrow and then he shook his head. He's such a prick... "Whatever... anyway, what's the city's condition?" Sonic asked as he stood up as well.

"Everything's fine, no fatalities, just some minor damage to the city." Eggman said as he walked off. Sonic was relieved that the city wasn't completely destroyed. As Eggman continued his stroll he stopped half way and turned to face Sonic again. "Oh, and one more thing... we won't be seeing each other for the time being." he said to the blue hero.

Sonic was a little stunned by the doc's words. I thought we were on an alliance? Sonic thought. There was a brief silence... a stare down if you will... as they're eyes met. "What do you mean...?" Sonic said a little relieved to say the least. He was actually glad that they were parting ways. But why say it now?

"My plans for revenge doesn't include you... though we have the same goal I can't work with you Sonic..." Eggman said as he clenched his fist "I have my own goals in mind... you get even with the suit guys your way... and I'll deal with them my way..." Eggman unclenched his fist and hopped on his Egg Mobile and began to take off.

Sonic smiled a little. I think he's trying to challenge me... "Hey Eggman!" Sonic shouted as Eggman was about fly away. He heard Sonic's cry and turned to face the hedgehog "Let's make it official. Whoever gets the suit guys first wins."

Eggman smiled "I'm looking forward to it." And the two shared a moment of silence each smiling at the other... it was the same old story... two rivals, same goal, one victor.

Eggman left the vicinity in a flash leaving a trail of wind as he flew away... Sonic can't help but soak in the aura of the moment... he and Eggman are going head-to-head again but this time they were both facing the same enemy... but before all that happens he needed to form a team... but then he remembered that his friends are at the mercy of those suit guys. He needed to find whoever was still around and ask for their help... he can't do this alone... Remembering that he had to take care of someone first he dismissed the idea until after he dealt with Rouge.

*---*

Sonic got ready to walk back to where Rouge was hoping to get her answer so he could be rid of her... "Here goes..." Sonic said as he walked towards her. Rouge was no longer in deep thought as Sonic arrived. She was holding her left leg tightly. Sonic didn't know why she was holding her leg... maybe she did something and strained herself "What exactly were doing while I was away?" Sonic asked the white bat.

"Nothing..." she said trying to hide her pain... the truth was... when she saw Eggman's head peer out from the rubble she tried to walk over to the spot to eavesdrop on them... but she met with disastrous results again.

Sonic just shrugged it off and walked over to her side "So... are you going to let me treat your leg now?" Sonic asked.

She totally forgot about it when she saw Eggman's head! Now what... she felt troubled "Um..." she still felt indecisive and Sonic thought she'd have an answer by now...

Rouge was conflicted. It was a battle over her pride. She never needed anyone's help in her entire life before. And the fact that she needed her leg fixed up was no exception to that. But if she didn't get it patched up now what would happen later... will she even be able to walk ever again if she didn't get it checked. Eventually the fear of not being able to walk ever again overwhelmed her pride and she decided to let Sonic patch her up. "Okay... I'll let you patch me up." She said hesitantly.

Sonic gave her a big grin. "Are you warming up to me Rouge?" he said tauntingly.

Rouge gave him a 'drop dead' look. "As if! Just get on with it. I don't just let anyone fix my leg you know!" She said still trying to act tough about the situation.

"Whatever floats your boat." Sonic said cheerfully as he got ready to patch up Rouge's leg.

Sonic picked up his med-kit and went to work on Rouge's left leg. He was cautious as he did it too there was a somewhat gentleness in his touch something he doesn't show on a regular basis. But Rouge felt it... she felt Sonic's hand across her injured leg with that gentleness and it felt... nice. She never saw this side of Sonic before... sure he showed how he cared about people on a regular basis but he never saw Sonic be this close to someone or be this personal about helping someone.

"Hey Sonic... can I ask you something..." Rouge asked the blue hero.

"What's up?" Sonic said in his typical way of saying things.

"Were you... being serious... about me being your friend?" she seemed kind of hesitant as she asked him.

Sonic smiled as he slowed down his pace a bit. "Rouge... when I rescued you from the falling building. I made sure to make you my first priority before anything else. The people I've met throughout my life hold a very special place in my heart. And your one those people." Sonic said sounding so caring.

His words really struck her... she always thought that she'd be all alone all her life... and that no one would ever remember her that much... she felt a sudden warmth come over her.

As Sonic was finishing up on Rouge's leg he heard a faint sob coming from her. As he looked up to see she had her head tilted upward. She doesn't seem to be sobbing... maybe it was just his imagination. He ignored it. Although he doesn't know that much about Rouge he knew her well enough to know that she wasn't the type to cry. Even during the Biolizard incident and they all thought Shadow was dead... she barely spread any tears. She was sad but no tears. She was much too tough for that. It was a quality that he liked about her.

"There... feel any better?" Sonic was done and the leg was patched up as he gleamed with a smile over his work. Finally! This ordeal is over! He thought as he packed up his med-kit. Rouge felt a little disappointed that it was over... She kinda liked the way Sonic patched her up.

But all good things must come to an end... but she smiled... because she now had a precious memory to look back too... "Thanks Sonic... it feels a lot better than it was earlier. I'm glad you were there to save me..."

Sonic had a smug look in his face "Well, I try." Sonic said and the two shared a nice laugh with one another.

*---*

Knowing Rouge couldn't walk yet. Sonic asked Rouge if he should carry her. Rouge agreed to it without question and thy went on their way. After walking for quite sometime. Rouge asked her blue savior a question. "Where to now Sonic?" Rouge asked.

"Well, I thought maybe-" Sonic stopped in mid-sentence. He felt a presence nearby. Sonic stopped as he looked towards a giant hole in a wall right beside them. He recognized the design of the wall it was the video store that Tails always goes to. The presence felt somewhere inside and it felt very familiar... and it felt like it was calling out to him... "Rouge..." Sonic said in a very serious tone "You wouldn't mind us taking a look around for a bit." Sonic seems to be bothered by something Rouge thought.

There wasn't a lot of things that could bother the blue hedgehog he was the most care free person in the world. But he looked so serious what could it be bothering him? Wanting to know what was up with Sonic she nodded in agreement and they entered the hole leading to the broken down video store.

It was a mess inside. Video tapes were scattered everywhere the stands have fallen over and the place had more holes in it then Swiss cheese. The place was empty, save what was said earlier, but there didn't seem to be anything in here... but Sonic knew there was something or someone in this store. The presence he felt earlier was getting stronger and he could swear he could hear a voice in his head saying 'help...'. It was like it had control over him. As they reached the back of the store a large rubble was piled over to Sonic's right. There was also something lying on the top of the rubble something blue...

Sonic recognized that shade of blue... "No... it couldn't be." He said approaching the fallen being. It was a robot. A robot that Sonic knew all too well... It's metallic frame was built to match Sonic's appearance. From Sonic's red shoes to his spines. Though the robot only had three spines while Sonic had six. If this robot was an actual living being he would pretty much look exactly like Sonic's twin... Sonic took pity on him. He knew that this robot had no other intention in the world than see him destroyed but he couldn't blame him, it was in his programming and he didn't have the freedom to decide for himself. Sonic asked Rouge to wait for him as he went to pick up the robot. But Rouge didn't think it was such a good idea.

"Isn't he one of your greatest enemies?" Rouge asked.

"Yeah he is. But I have to help him." Sonic replied.

"Why?" Rouge asked. She knew Sonic was very compassionate but she never knew that his compassion would reach even towards robots.

Sonic smiled and looked into Rouge's blue eyes. "Because that's just the way I am."

Rouge just shook her head as she gesture her hand for Sonic to go on. Sonic picked the robot up and placed him over his back. Oh god... he weighs a ton! Sonic thought but he knew he couldn't just leave him there even if he was a robot.

After picking the robot up he went over to Rouge and carried her in his arms again. "Shall we?" Sonic said and they made they're way out of the store. As they went along they're way Sonic felt that voice in his head again... this time though the voice said 'thank you...' which gave him an odd feeling of happiness. He then replied to the voice by saying 'You're Welcome.' out loud. To which Rouge responded by raising her eyebrow. "Who are you talking to?" She asked perplexingly.

"A friend..." He responded and left the matter at that. Rouge didn't quite understand. But she also didn't want to bring up long matters and left it at that as well.

Having to carry Rouge and the metal guy meant that he couldn't run. He can't risk dropping both of them so Sonic was forced to just walk. It wasn't the most unpleasant feeling in the world but moving in this pace and carrying both Rouge an the robot was just torture for his legs. If his legs had mouths they would be screaming at him in anger. The strain was just unbearable it was like a flock of Flickies were peaking at his legs. He felt like collapsing. But he grinned and beared it... his morals wouldn't let him rest in peace if he didn't. What I'd do for a Power Ring right now... Sonic said to himself as he headed for his house. As he continued to walk he remembered something... the city's been destroyed and that means his house wasn't there anymore! Dammit! He cursed silently. What now? Where do we go from here? Sonic thought. He didn't know where to go from here... and Knothole was two cities away... no way I'm going there! He shouted at himself but what other choice does he have? He gave a big sigh. It was going to be a long trip...

*---*

Rouge couldn't help notice Sonic's distress and she asked him what was bothering him. "What's wrong Sonic? Well, other than the fact that you seem really tired." Rouge said pointing out the obvious.

"This *huff* isn't *augh* the time... we need to *huff* find a place to stay..." Sonic said very tiredly. Rouge could understand, he's Sonic, he's only physically fast not physically strong. She needed to figure out a way to help Sonic and pick up the pace.

Then she remembered that she parked her car near the mall's coffee shop. "Hey Sonic, why not go to the mall's coffee shop. I left my car there."

Sonic huffed loudly and glared at Rouge wide eyed. "That would have been useful to know earlier!" Sonic said in a half shout. He couldn't shout fully cause he was out of breath. Rouge suppressed a giggle as they went along.

Rouge smiled a little. Seeing Sonic struggle so much for her and the robot made her feel comfortable around him. I guess I should thank him... maybe I'll treat him to lunch or dinner sometime... after all, that's what friends are for he always say! Heh heh... friends... she thought she never thought that she'd end up being friends with Sonic... she always thought of him as just an acquaintance. But that all changed today. They eventually got to Rouge's car despite Sonic's slow pace because of the extra 'baggage' but that didn't matter... just as long as they're there.

The car was a candy red Highlander Supreme it was the kind of car that you'd often see an Overlander drive because these kind of cars are manufactured only at Megopolis. Sonic could care less what car it was as long as he got to rest his feet. He helped Rouge sit in front and placed the metal guy at the back seat. Good thing this was a convertible or this would've taken longer he thought.

After setting the two he hopped on the front and sat there as he immersed himself on the car's comfy seat. "Oh yeah... that's the ticket..." He just wanted to rest for a bit.

"Your not planning to just sit there are you?" Rouge said in a friendly way.

"Not really. Maybe just for a minute." Sonic said as he placed his hands over his head.

"Okay." Rouge agreed to having Sonic rest up a bit. Though Sonic said they've been walking for almost an hour it was actually more than that... it was night now. The moon rose in the sky so beautifully tonight... even though it was only sometime between eight and nine in the evening the moon shined like it was even later then what it seemed. As they lay there on Rouge's car the two looked up and gazed at the moon... Sonic couldn't remember the last time he gazed at the moon like this... well he did once... with Sally... he gave off a silent sigh as he the day he and Sally broke up. It was the saddest day of his life. Rouge was thinking the same thing... only with Knuckles... the moon reminded them of their heartfelt goodbyes to their loved ones... they both shed a tear though neither of them even noticed the other's tear at first as they looked on at the moon. They turned to face each other... they both gave a small smile at one another.

"So... what makes a tough guy like you shed a tear at a time like this...?" Rouge asked as she wiped her tear.

Sonic did the same and smiled a little as he looked back towards the moon. "Nothing really... just remembering an old wound..." Sonic replied as he placed his hand on his chest. "What about you?" Sonic asked the bat.

She turned and faced the moon as well. "Just doing the same..." She said as she too placed her hand on her chest. A silence fell the two of them as they gazed at the moon's beautiful glow.

"You know... my one minute is up..." Sonic said without looking away at the moon.

"I know..." Rouge replied as they forgot themselves and just enjoyed the moment.

*---*

Hours have passed since Sonic and Rouge's little moment. There were at the open road now and making their way to Knothole. The trip seemed all too uneventful. Sonic still feared the fact that suit guys are still out there. And the fact that he has an injured friend with him made him worry even more. Not wanting to jinx himself he dismissed the idea and readjusted his side-view mirror. The night wind was kind of refreshing... he's always been used to doing things like this but he never did it behind the wheel of a car before. Well, except for that one time when he and his friends went go kart racing.

He gave a big yawn as he placed his hand to cover his mouth. He was getting sleepy. Mr. Sandman was already pouring a truck full of sand in his eyes and they felt like anvils against his face. Knothole was still a long way to go but he couldn't afford any delays. But he couldn't drive half asleep... He thought about resting up in a road motel or something... But he didn't want to wake Rouge up...

Sonic looked at Rouge at the corner of his eye. She was sleeping so soundly and he couldn't help slow down a bit as he looked at her. He couldn't explain it. Maybe it was something in the air or maybe it was the lack of sleep. But Sonic couldn't help but be mystified by the way Rouge looked as she slept. He found her kind of... beautiful.... the way the moon shines over her white fur as the light reflected off her mascara... and that each breath she took played in unison with his heart as it beated like an orchestra... wait... What am I thinking!? Sonic shouted in his head snapping out of his trance. He shook his head violently as he tried to get his concentration back on the road. We're just friends... it's just the lack of sleep talking... that's all. Isn't it? Sonic thought as he doubted his own feelings. He decided to forget the whole thing and just continued to drive down the open road.

Thinking that if he went on driving like this he might crash the car. So he opted to find a good spot to park. He drove off the road and into a forest like clearing. He didn't even know this place was here but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that he found a good place to spend the night until the mourn. It was a very secluded spot; it was a giant round area with trees surrounding the place. His ears perked up as he heard running water from somewhere. Now this is a great place to spend the night… he thought.

The river just added to the calm sounding breeze that came as he thought about taking a dip in the river to clean himself up, but a bath would have to wait until the morning. This whole affair leading here was just really tiring... but as he started to doze off he remembered about the suit guys still roaming around out there... he gave a big yawn and decided that he'd take care of it tomorrow. Right now a good long rest was more important.

To be Continued...


	3. Second Chances and Secrets

Author's Notes: No real editing. Just some tweaks here and there. Please feel to point out any mistakes. Constructive Critisism is the pathway to a great Story.

Disclaimer: Sorry for being repetative but... Sonic and co. doesn't belong to me! They belong to the dudes and dudettes at SEGA.

Unlikely Bonds (Chapter 3)  
- Second Chances and Secrets -  
by Cattz Salzarrotta

As the night ended and the sun rose in the distance a glimmer of light shined down on a little white bat's face. Though she wished to continue her slumber the morning sun drove her from the dream world and back to reality. She greeted the morning with a big yawn showing off her sharp fangs as they glinted in the morning glow. But as she rose and rubbed the sand out of her eyes, she noticed something different about her surroundings. This isn't Knothole...

Where am I? She felt a little worried... She thought that they would have arrived at Knothole by morning. As she looked on her worry amplified further when she noticed Sonic was no longer by her side. She jumped off the car and winced in pain. Her leg hasn't completely healed yet... but she was too worried to bother with the pain right now. She started to survey her surroundings for the blue hedgehog. As she listened in more intently with her large ears. After scanning the area she heard a faint sound from the distance beyond the trees...

She ran towards the source of the sound and listened to it more closely. It sounded like... whistling... or at least she thought it was. She slowed down her pace and started to tip-toe towards it... she wasn't sure who it was yet, so she didn't want her presence known. She went closer and closer and eventually situating herself in a bush as she reached a point where the sound was loud enough to be heard properly. She peered out a little and saw a majestic river. It was quite vast for a river though. More like a lake.

The water sparkled from the morning sun creating star like lights from their reflection. And then she heard the whistling again... she tried to find the source of the sound and looked on at the river. And as she did she eventually saw who it was that was whistling... in the distance, bathing was the blue hedgehog... the whistling wasn't just an ordinary whistle as Rouge found out when she listened more carefully. It had a tone to it...

So close no matter how far  
Couldn't be much more from the heart  
Forever trusting who we are  
And nothing else matters

Never opened myself this way  
Life is ours, we live it our way  
All these words I don't just say  
And nothing else matters

Sonic was singing... and the song was something Rouge hasn't heard in a long time. She heard this song on the radio once; the song had an odd air about it... especially since the band that sang it was famous for playing heavy metal. It was something different, but that's why she kinda likes it. Hearing Sonic sing the song though... kinda made her feel like singing along as well...

Trust I seek and I find in you  
Every day for us something new  
Open mind for a different view  
And nothing else matters

Never cared for what they do  
Never cared for what they know  
But I know

As she sang along in a whisper. She found herself enjoying the song. She didn't know why, but singing along with Sonic made her feel sorta... happy...

So close no matter how far  
Couldn't be much more from the heart  
Forever trusting who we are  
And nothing else matters

Never cared for what they do  
Never cared for what they know  
But I know

Sonic continued his bath as he ran his hands across his quills. He looked at the sky as he continued to sing. He knew this song for a long time but he never really paid much attention to it before. It was strange... why did he feel like singing it now? Then a blurry image of something white popped in his head. He shook his head a little as he dismissed the image and just continued to enjoy the song...

Never opened myself this way  
Life is ours, we live it our way  
All these words I don't just say  
And nothing else matters

The words swirled and twirled like a whirlpool in Rouge's head... she started to really get into the song as she rocked back and forth to Sonic's singing... She never realized how enchanting his voice was... she wondered... what if it was Sonic who she fell in love with instead of that red echidna...

Trust I seek and I find in you  
Every day for us something new  
Open mind for a different view  
And nothing else matters

Never cared for what they say  
Never cared for games they play  
Never cared for what they do  
Never cared for what they know  
And I know

So close no matter how far  
Couldn't be much more from the heart  
Forever trusting who we are  
No nothing else matters

As the song finished a satisfied smile went across her face... she enjoyed singing that song with Sonic. Even though Sonic didn't know. Maybe we'll get a chance to sing again for real she thought. Not wanting Sonic to see her out of the car she drew a deep breath and forced herself to turn towards the direction of where the car was. Though she didn't notice at first. She realized that she made it all the way here without feeling any pain from her leg. Funny... she thought as she smiled. But her thoughts were interrupted when she heard footsteps making their way towards her. Sonic's heading this way! Could he have heard me? Rouge said to herself in a little bit of a panic.

Afraid that Sonic might catch her snooping on him. She tried to make her way back to the car. But her leg was giving her trouble. "Damn... leg..." she said in a whisper. She decided to just limp back but at her slow pace Sonic would most probably catch up to her easy.

"You look so funny down there Rouge..." she heard someone say behind her. She sighed... and turned around to look at Sonic.

"You know... it's impolite to interrupt a guy when he's bathing. Quite rude." Sonic said as he reached out to help Rouge up.

"Sorry... but you should have told me that we parked here... then we wouldn't be in this predicament." Rouge said accepting the hedgehog's hand and he pulled her up.

"That's no excuse Rouge... I know! Why don't you make it up to me by joining me in the river?" Sonic suggested with a smile and Rouge returned the smile.  
"No thanks. A bath sounds nice and all... but I'll wait till we get to Knothole." Rouge said and Sonic snapped his fingers in a 'garsh darn it' manner and continued to smile.

"Well you can't blame a guy for trying." Sonic said and they made they're way back to the car.

*---*

After Sonic dried himself off. He helped Rouge into the car. After making sure she was secure. Sonic started the engine and went on their way. Along the way they stopped at a gas station and made their way to it's diner to have a bit of breakfast. Having went through all the commotion from yesterday Sonic was left quite famished. As they made their way inside though people were giving them odd stares and glares. Everyone in the diner was more or less looking in disbelief. Well most of them anyway... there was this couple in the corner giving them a wink and a thumb's up. They probably thought they were a couple too. But everyone else was just shocked to see Sonic the hedgehog carrying in his arms Rouge the bat! It left the two slightly glued in place as they too stared at the people in the diner.

A grey mouse looking guy sitting near the counter wearing a brown overcoat and a hat with a piece of paper with the words 'press' on it was the most shocked of them all. His eyes were practically bulging out and looked like it could pop out if he continued any further. But the state of shock wasn't going to distract him for long. He quickly pulled out a notepad and a pen as he walked towards the two who were still looking dumbfounded by everyone's rather disturbing stares. "Excuse me, Mr. Sonic. Mind if ask you a few questions about your friend here." the reporter said in an eager but squeaky voice.

Sonic and Rouge snapped out of their trance and looked at the reporter. "Well?" the reporter said. Sonic rolled his eyes, he didn't have time for people making assumptions about his new found friend... he waved away the reporter and walked towards the counter. Reporters aren't easily gestured away. They were like gums on shoes. You just can't get rid of them all at once. The reporter followed the two to the counter with an excited expression on his face as he gripped his notepad tightly, I can't believe this! the hero of Mobius, Sonic the hedgehog going out with the mysterious jewel thief, Rouge the bat! What a scoop! I can't let this opportunity slip away! He said to himself anxiously.

He sat beside the two as he watched them take their menus. Much to Sonic and Rouge's displeasure. Sonic didn't like this guy hanging around him. He was more than just a little nuisance, he was down right annoying! He keeps asking questions. And though neither Sonic nor Rouge ever answered any of them he kept going on and on. It was a little more than the heroes could take. "Come on Mr. Sonic. Can't you tell me how you two met?" Sonic was ready to punch the guy. He couldn't even pick out an order yet! But as he was about to raise his fist to do so, the reporter blurted out "Do you love her Mr. Sonic?" this made Sonic hesitate a bit...

Love... her? The man's words made Sonic's mind go blank and enter into deep thought. "May I take that as a yes? You're like red all over Mr. Sonic…" the reporter said twirling his finger around Sonic's face which was lit up a bright crimson.

"I-I-I-" Sonic was getting a little embarrassed and he couldn't speak straight. This idea of him in love with Rouge... it really shocked him... he then remembered what happened last night... No, it was just the lack of sleep! We're just... friends... Sonic thought.

As Sonic completely lost the ability to speak, Rouge placed her hand on his shoulder and faced the reporter. "You know, you should really leave us alone. He may be a hero, but I'm not... so I suggest you go now before you find yourself under my shoe. Or worse" Rouge said as she looked menacingly at the reporter. The reporter went into a panic and ran out the door.

With the reporter gone, Sonic went into a more relieved state of mind and gave a big sigh to release his pent up worry "*Whew...* Thanks Rouge..." Sonic said scratching the back of his head. He was still kinda blushing.

"No problem." Rouge replied as she went back to her menu.

"So what'll you two have?" asked the hefty man in the counter. He must be the cook Sonic thought.

"I'll have two chili dog please, and since it's breakfast. Take it easy on the chili. And some milk please." Sonic said in his regular tone of voice.

"Okay, and you miss?" the cook asked writing down Sonic's order.

"I'll have some flap jacks and coffee. And make it black." Rouge said as she placed her menu down.

"Okay, just wait a while, I'll be back with your orders." The cook said as he made his way to the back. And as soon as the cook left, the smell of flap jacks and chili permeated the air. The two sat there as they waited for their orders. Rouge picked up a newspaper on the seat beside her and started to browse the articles. Sonic was tapping his finger on the counter as he waited for his order.

"Sure is taking long... hey, do you-." he said but stopped at the last part as he looked over to Rouge. His eyes met with the newspaper's front page... and his jaw dropped as he saw a picture of Metal City completely destroyed and the words 'Unknown Terrorist Group Attacks Metal City and Abducts several people' in bold letters. This is bad...

As Rouge browsed through the paper she glanced over to Sonic. She noticed that he looked kinda bothered again. "What's the matter Sonic?" she asked sounding concerned. Sonic looked up to her and turned the newspaper to the front. She was kinda wondering what it was that was worrying him, but as she saw the article, it too made her jaw drop. She looked at the article with great shock "This is the same thing that happened to Station Square..." she said as she read the article clearly.

"Yeah... and things are only going to get worse..." Sonic said as he took on a more serious face.

"What do you mean?" Rouge asked. Although she was at Station Square when the incident happened, she didn't know WHY it happened. She was pretty much in the dark about the situation as far as she's concerned.

"Well it's like this..." Sonic began...

Sonic explained to Rouge everything that happened yesterday. Including his short term alliance with Eggman. Even after hearing the whole story she was very calm about the situation. She was worried but calm. But what really relieved her is realizing how lucky she was that she wasn't abducted by the suit guys.

"This is bad... what are we going to do about this?" Rouge asked the blue hedgehog.

"Well, first we need to get to Knothole; we'll figure things out from there. And second, we need to get tin man up and running again. He'll be of great help." Sonic said to the white bat. She agreed to the plan and folded the paper up. Their order arrived and they ate it as quickly as they can and paid the cook. Sonic carried Rouge back to the car, filled up the tank and went on they're way. They needed to get to Knothole as quickly as they can.

*---*

As they drove off towards Knothole, Sonic saw Mobotropolis in the distance... Sure has been a while... wonder how Sally's doing... Sonic thought as he stared off. He blinked a couple of times before he returned his focus to the road. Sonic turned the radio on and placed it on a random station.

He thought that maybe some music will ease his mind. ^Hey, this is JS, bringing you some of the best rock n' roll songs of the yester-years. Songs that many of you, old or young, love. Next up we have a nice rock song that has a somewhat relaxing tune to it, good for those who need to just lay back and chill...^ the radio dj said as he played the song and a familiar strum of a guitar echoed through Sonic and Rouge's ears... ^...So close no matter how far...Couldn't be much more from the heart...^ Sonic and Rouge went wide-eyed... the song that played was the song that they sang earlier...

As the song played Rouge looked over to Sonic and he looked back at her at the corner of his eye. They smiled at each other as the words 'nothing else matters' played.

Strange... why this song? And why now? Rouge asked herself as she looked away... Looks like I got my wish... Rouge thought. Thinking this opportunity may not present itself again. She forced herself to sing along.

Sonic's grip on the wheel loosened as he heard Rouge's voice... it wasn't anything he ever heard before... and he's heard Mina's concerts! But this... this was different... Rouge's voice added something to the song...

reluctant at first, Sonic slowed the car down so he could focus more on singing along with Rouge.

As they're voices melded with together with the song... they both lost sight of the world... like... like they entered a realm all they're own. And all that mattered was hearing other's voice. They looked at one another as the song's words flowed through they're lips like a gentle breeze along a running river... But as the song entered the guitar solo, the river became an ocean and the breeze became a storm as they closed they're eyes and let the deep and intense feelings of the song take over them... As they did, a feeling that they once had, and lost, came rushing back... A feeling that only those destined to be together felt... it was incredible... they wished this moment could never end... but with all good things, it had to end... and they found themselves basking in the afterglow of a song that touched they're souls...

Sonic slowly opened his eyes and met with Rouge's. They shared a smile as they both stayed in silence letting the moment sink into them. As the moment dissipated, and they went back to reality, Sonic went back to driving. He never even noticed that the car wasn't moving the whole time they were singing. As Rouge returned her focus back towards the meadow beside her, a funny thought passed her mind.

"Never thought we'd share a song together like that..." Rouge said in a low voice.

"Yeah...." Sonic said with a smile and then an idea came to him. "Hey, why not consider this our song. Whenever this song plays or whenever we sing it, it will remind us of each other." Sonic said joyfully.

"I'd like that." Rouge said as she smiled. She nudged slightly on her seat and drew closer to Sonic.

*---*

It wasn't long till they neared the exit towards the Great Forest. "Shouldn't be long now..." Sonic said as he sped up.

After entering the forest Sonic drove into the place where he and the other Freedom Fighters used to park their vehicles. Sonic carried Rouge into his old hut and placed her on the bed and then raced back outside and carried the robot and brought him inside as well. He then placed the robot on his chair in the corner and then walked across the room to where Rouge was.

"Okay, let's begin. We're going to need some info on what we're up against." Sonic said as he sat beside Rouge.

"That's a start. But where are we going to get that kind of info?" Rouge asked.

"Don't worry. Mobotropolis isn't far from here. We'll just ask Sally for help." Sonic said as he ran his hand over the quills on his head. "We'll get started on that tomorrow." Sonic said finishing up his sentence.

Rouge was a little confused... why ask Sally tomorrow? Why not now? "But why tomorrow?" Rouge asked.

"Well... in case the suit guys attack us while in Mobotropolis. I want him coming along with us." Sonic said pointing his thumb towards the robot.

Rouge understood what Sonic was telling her. Since she's injured she won't be able to fight and thus giving Sonic a lot of worry in combat. But Sonic could always just go by himself... "Why not go there by yourself? It would be much faster if you did." Rouge reassuring Sonic.

Sonic placed his hand on Rouge's hand as he looked at her blue eyes. She was a little bit surprised by the contact, but that didn't stop her from looking back at Sonic's eyes...

"I don't want to take the risk of the suit guys taking you away. I don't want to leave you're side..." Sonic said to her. She felt her heart skip. Did he really mean that? She thought. Sonic didn't know why he said that just now... he felt compelled to protect her... though he felt this about all his friends, he felt that she was more... special... he couldn't quite explain it, but the thought of Rouge being taken away by the suit guys filled him with fear...

The two more or less stared at each other for more than five minutes; they didn't know what to say to the other. Sonic's words made the two hesitate about what to say next. But as they stared at the other's eyes they started to draw out strong feelings from each other and they didn't know why... this whole incident left them all too confused about how they felt about one another... they barely talked to one another in the past.

They both have very different life-styles. Sonic was a hero and Rouge was a thief, Sonic works for the Freedom Fighters and Rouge works for the Government. But though they were at different sides, they both had the same principle... they were both free spirited and did whatever they wanted to do... but even with that, they knew that they didn't have much in common. But somewhere deep down, they both felt very infatuated about one another... It was strange... they never really saw each other this way before...

The feelings were getting stronger and without them noticing they started to move closer to each other and were almost against the other's lips. But as they did they felt something rush inside them... it was like they're bodies were moving by themselves and without really thinking about it they curled they're lips and drew even closer to one another.

This was probably the most awkward moment they ever had to face. But it didn't matter... because the feelings were mutual. So they let themselves go. They wanted to know the point of contact. Each wanting to know if this was what they thought it was... but as fate would have it, a strange revving sound started emitting from behind them. They were startled by the sounds and they both backed away from each other blushing. The revving sounds continued and they both looked at where it was coming from... it was coming from the robot...

They stared at the robot as it's eyes, which were screens, started showing this red line across it. And just like those machines in hospitals that measure the beats that hearts make a spike went across the screen followed by a beeping sound. Then the screen went fuzzy and two red eyes formed from the red line. The robot slowly rose and Sonic instinctively got off the bed and stood his ground. The robot was apparently rebooting.

As Sonic looked on at the robot an odd feeling went into his thoughts... he felt like the robot had no intention of harming them. It was perhaps because of the link they shared. When Robotnik built this robot he wanted it to be able to know how he, Sonic, thought and felt. So Robotnik built in him a program which enabled the robot to link to Sonic. But even with Sonic's mentality and emotions, he still had his own programming to be a mindless slave and eliminate Sonic, so the robot's personality was almost a mirror of Sonic's. But Sonic didn't feel it in him anymore... since they were linked, Sonic could also feel what the robot felt. To a certain extent.

*---*

The robot just stood there seemingly motionless. Then a distorted sound came from the robot. Sort of like when the cable goes out and the TV makes that funny 'kzzt' sound. It caught Sonic and Rouge slightly by surprise.

"....Voice box operational. Beginning to start up program 'Metal Sonic'..." the robot said in a monotonous way.

Then as Metal Sonic said those words, Sonic heard that voice in his head again. 'Tell it to abort file H.S.H...' Sonic didn't know why, but he felt like he just needed to agree with that voice again. "Abort file H.S.H." Sonic said to Metal Sonic.

"Acknowledging command. Do you wish to completely erase program?" Metal asked.

Sonic didn't know that much about how computers work. But he knew that you shouldn't just delete stuff without knowing what it is first. "What does file H.S.H. stand for? And what does it contain or do?" Sonic asked as he approached Metal.

"File H.S.H. stands for 'Hate Sonic the Hedgehog' and it contains all of previous commands given by user Eggman." Metal said.

Sonic thought of this as a great opportunity. If he could get rid of that program... then Metal will no longer carry any hatred for him. And who knows, if Metal really was linked to him, then he'd be more then willing to aid him and Rouge on they're battle against the suit guys. "Proceed deleting file H.S.H." Sonic said as he placed his hands around his waist and smiled.

"Acknowledged. Proceeding to delete file H.S.H............. Process complete... proceeding to start up program 'Metal Sonic'..." Metal said, and no sooner than that, his eyes blinked twice as two pupils appeared on the red irises.

Metal Sonic stared around the room and then made his way towards Sonic. He looked at Sonic in the eye and Sonic returned the look, both barely even flinching; the malice between them no longer permeated as it used to... this was an opportunity to start a possible friendship.

*---*

The hatred they had for one another was legendary to say the least... countless times they faced, Sonic winning each bout, and Metal just kept coming back. They were rivals in every sense of the way. And the arua of they're stare down could be felt so thickly that even the Flickies outside went silent. But they're silent stance had to break eventually. So Metal opted to speak first.

"Sonic..." Metal said.

"Metal..." Sonic said and then the silence continued.

What a way to start a conversation... Rouge thought as she rolled her eyes.

"Wait, Let me say first that I'm sorry... for what happened between us in the past..." Metal said raising his hand to Sonic. Though he didn't show it, the tone in his voice had made it feel like he really meant it. And Sonic could feel it.

"No problem dude. What happened in the past was no biggie." Sonic said with a smile as he extended his hand to Metal.

Metal searched his memory banks for what Sonic was doing. After searching the meaning of Sonic's actions, the word 'Friendship' appeared, this made the robot's formerly cold red eyes light up and extended his hand to meet Sonic's. "Thank you... Sonic..."

There was much to talk about and so many memories to remember. Though all were bad they were still memories. But this wasn't the time. Rouge had to remind the two about what was supposed to be done. "This isn't the time to reminisce. We have more important matters to attend to." Rouge said returning the seriousness of the situation.

The two nodded at each other in agreement with her statement. Sonic then briefed Metal about what's happening and what him and Rouge are going to do next.

"I see, then allow me to join you. I must pay you back for saving me and for all the things that I've done." Metal said.

"We'd be more then happy to have you join us. Right Rouge?" Sonic said in a joyful tone as he turned to face Rouge.

"Of course. But first, could you tell us why you were at Station Square yesterday." Rouge asked they're new ally.

Metal didn't remember much after being rebooted. But he was willing to share what he could still remember. "As you all know, after my defeat as Metal Overlord, I was taken by Omega and Shadow and was being held in an unknown lab facility. I don't know where this lab was but I believe it belonged to Omega or something." Metal explained along with hand gestures and mannerisms that looked similar to what Sonic does.

"After my escape, I made my way to my secret forest lair. Where I plotted my next scheme. It took me a while to think of something due to the fact that most of my circuitry and equipment were still damaged." Metal paused for a second as a spark flew off his shoulder. Sonic responded by rushing over to Metal but Metal waved his hand in protest. "Don't worry, I'll fix it later. Anyway, after some time and finally plotting my new scheme I rushed over to Station Square to face Sonic. But a mysterious group of men in suits halted my advance and attempted to capture me. I fought the men but they overwhelmed me and I eventually shut downed. While shut downed my back-up computer kicked in and started to send a message to the closest unit capable of rescuing me."

Sonic then nodded as he realized now why he heard that voice in his head. It was Metal's back-up computer. "But why did your computer send it to me instead of Eggman's computer?" Sonic asked the robo hedgehog.

"I guess since we're linked. My back-up computer regarded you as the closest unit capable of rescuing me." Metal said. Sonic nodded. I guess we're closer to one another than I thought... Sonic said to himself.

"Well, does that answer your question Rouge?" Sonic said looking towards the white bat.

"I suppose." Rouge said in her usual tone of voice smiling at the two.

"With no further questions, let's all get ready to leave. We'll be heading for Mobotropolis in a few minutes." Sonic said as he walked over to his closet and pulled out his old back pack.

Sonic went back to the car and placed all the necessary things they needed. The med-kit he got from Eggman, a thermos from Rouge's glove compartment, and afterwards he went over to the lake to pick up some Power Rings. Metal was tinkering with his system and fixed up whatever damage was left ignored when he rebooted himself. Rouge just sat at the corner of the bed and looked over some of Sonic's old photos in the side table drawer next to the bed.  
They were all old photos of him, the Freedom Fighters, his family, and his friends. She sulked a little wishing she had that many friends... But looking over the photos more. She saw one frame turned upside down. Wanting to know what Sonic was trying to hide, she picked it up. It was an old photo of Sonic and Sally kissing after the Endgame incident...

Rouge remembered that Sonic and Sally used to go out with one another. But she never really knew what came after that... Metal saw Rouge staring at the photo and walked up to see as well. "You know... it's kinda sad they broke up..." Metal said over her shoulder.

Rouge was surprised by Metal's sudden presence and kinda jumped a little. She was paying so much attention to the photo that she didn't even notice him approach her... wait... what did he say? Broke up? Rouge let Metal's words swirl in her head then stared back at the photo. "They broke up... why?" Rouge asked not even looking away from the photo.

"After Sonic's return from his mission against the Xorda. Sally was given charge of leading Mobotropolis and asked Sonic to stay by her side. But Sonic was opposed to risking his life in combat missions as a soldier and rather live the life of a hero. That resulted in them breaking up." Metal said.

This new found information about Sonic made her feel sorry for the blue hero. She was no stranger to broken hearts... she recalled the moments when she and Knuckles almost had a relationship. But Knuckles ended up falling in love with Julie-Su. Rouge never really intended to fall for Knuckles. She was just after the Master Emerald. But they're constant meetings and fake flirting ended up becoming a sort of relationship... and she eventually grew fond of the red echidna... but Knuckles made it clear to her that he and Julie-Su were soul mates and that they're suppossed 'relationship' was nothing more than a minor nuisance to him. It left Rouge's heart broken... especially since Knuckles said it to her so bluntly... she sighed a little as she placed the photo back to where it belonged.

Sonic sat there as he waited for the next Power Ring. He knew it takes a long time for Power Rings to come out from the lake and he could have just went to Uncle Chuck's place and grab some. But he didn't want to leave Rouge and Metal alone. They still weren't fit for combat yet. Metal had some of his weapons broken or out of ammo and Rouge was badly injured. It was up to him to make sure they're safe.

Sonic pulled out the thermos from his back pack cause he was getting thirsty from waiting. But as his luck would have it the thermos was empty. "Just my luck..." Sonic said. "Better fill this up first." Sonic then rushed towards the hut where Rosie used to cook breakfast for them to see if the water system still worked.

The kitchen hut looked just like everything else in Knothole. It was perfectly intact. Sonic remembered that Sally was left in charge of restoring Knothole when it was destroyed during the Endgame incident. As he remembered that incident his heart ached a little... Sonic sighed and closed his eyes as he tried to forget his feelings for Sally and fill up the thermos with water. He thought back to the day when he and Sally broke up... he bit his lip as he regretted that day.

If only he hadn't chosen his freedom over her... they would still be together... but there's no sense in thinking about it now... No one should ever be forced to do anything they didn't want to. And Sonic was never the soldier type. So it was apparent that it just wasn't meant to be... just then a vision of Rouge passed his thoughts and Sonic snapped open his eyes. Rouge... why did I think of her that way last night? And why do I think of her more often then usual? And when we almost kissed... I felt like I wanted it to happen... his heart started to pound harder and he placed his hand over it... could it be?

Metal snapped his head backwards... he just felt something from Sonic. He stared out the window trying to scan where he was. Rouge looked up to Metal and saw him acting strange. "What's wrong?" Rouge asked the blue robot.

"I felt Sonic's heart race just now." Metal said continuing his search.

"Why?" Rouge asked confused as to why Sonic's heart raced.

"I don't know... but he's thinking about you." Metal said to the confused bat.

He was thinking about me? Rouge didn't know what to say... Sonic was thinking about her and his heart raced... after scanning Sonic's location Metal looked over to Rouge. "I'm sorry... I shouldn't have told you that." Metal said. That was Sonic's personal thoughts. And those thoughts, along with his own, should be left between him and Sonic. "Is something the matter Rouge?" He asked with concern as he looked at Rouge who was staring blankly on the floor.

Rouge raised her head and looked out the window. Why would he be thinking about me? Rouge thought. And then she remembered when they almost kissed earlier... that image passed by her thoughts and her heart started beating faster... She placed her hand over it and closed her eyes trying to calm herself down.

*---*

After filling up the thermos Sonic made his way back to the lake to wait for the Power Ring. Meanwhile Rouge attempted to stand; she wanted to check on the hedgehog. "Metal, can you give me a hand?" she asked.

"Sure." Metal said as he picked up the still injured bat.

"I want to go see what Sonic's up to." Rouge explained and they went off to find Sonic. Not long after they left the hut, they made their way to the lake.  
Sonic sat there on the edge of the lake still waiting for his ring. His ears perked up as he heard footsteps coming his way. He turned around to see Metal and Rouge walking up to him. "Hey guys. Why are you here?" Sonic asked the two.

Metal made his way beside him and placed Rouge between them. "Rouge just wanted to know what you were up to." he said then Rouge nudged her elbow at him. "Why'd you do that for?" the robo hedgehog said rubbing his metallic arm. But his response was only met with another elbow.

Sonic tilted his head slightly as he gave Rouge a questioning look. Rouge waved her hand rapidly at Sonic. "Don't mind him. Let's just get going." she said trying to change the subject. Sonic just shrugged it off and continued his gaze at the lake.

"We can't go yet. I'm still waiting for a Power Ring to come." Sonic said.

Rouge looked at the lake with her eyebrow raised. "You mean to say that Power Rings can come out of this lake?" Rouge said pointing a finger at the lake.  
"Yup. Just give it a few more minutes." Sonic replied.

After a long wait, the time came, and the lake lit up with bright light and a strong wind blew in. Then the ring floated up from the water shinning incredibly as it lit the lake with it's golden glow. It almost looked heavenly... like a halo of an angel. Power Rings don't usually glow like that... but she didn't bother asking Sonic about it and just looked on. Just then Sonic grabbed Rouge's hand and helped her up.

"What are you doing?" Rouge asked.

"I want you to experience something special." Sonic said as he gestured Rouge towards the ring. Sonic held Rouge's hand out to reach for the ring.  
"What's so special about this ring?" she said as she hesitated her reach to which Sonic smiled to comfort her.

"You'll see..." he said reassuring her that there was nothing to fear.

Rouge didn't know what Sonic had in mind but she knew he wouldn't place her in any situation that would hurt her... They're friends after all.

The moment her hand clasped on the ring, she felt a surge of energy run through her body. It was a completely alien feeling to her... it was like electricity was running through her entire body. But as the energy faded a warm feeling replaced it... the strange power that ran through her body made her feel rejuvenated. But the feeling faded as quickly as the surge of energy and the ring's glow disappeared.

After receiving the ring she placed it in Sonic's back pack and then closed the bag. Sonic then turned to face Rouge with a smile.

"Well?" Sonic asked.

"It felt... different." Rouge said simply.

"It looks like the ring healed your wounds slightly. That's good." Sonic said nodding his head.

Rouge looked herself over and noticed that her wounds didn't hurt so much anymore. Though the cuts were still there, that's the least of her worries. At least she can walk again. "Thanks Sonic." Rouge said rubbing her wrist.

"You're welcome Rouge." Sonic said with a proud look on his face.

As she watched Sonic praise himself. Another question popped into her head. "Aside from healing me a little. Why did you want me to experience that?" Rouge asked. Sonic blinked a couple of times as if to say the answer was obvious.

"I just felt like sharing something special with you." Sonic said ending with a smirk. Rouge went slightly wide eyed and then lowered her head. "What's the matter?" Sonic asked the white bat. Did I say something wrong? he thought.

She responded by looking up to him with a smile across her face. "Nothing..." She said and Sonic went wide eyed. Okay... weird... Sonic thought.

Metal stood up from where he was and stretched his arms. "Well, I guess we'd better be going then." He said as if to break the moment.

Sonic and Rouge shook their heads and then turned to him and nodded. After that, they all left the lake. "I guess this means that we're heading to Mobotropolis to meet with the princess." Metal said as they walked along.

"Not yet. Since I can walk and stand on my own again. I think I should go take a bath. You guys don't mind waiting for me a little longer?" Rouge asked the two hedgehogs so suddenly.

"We don't mind, Right Metal?" Sonic said as he looked at Metal and Metal rolled his eyes.

"Fine. We'll wait for you at the car." Metal said. After arriving at the car Rouge made her way to it and picked up some spare clothes, which was the same clothes she always wears, and then made her way to the bath house.

As Rouge left to take her bath. Sonic and Metal Sonic started to entertain themselves with a game of rock-paper-scissors as they waited for Rouge. Each hand they threw in though keeps ending in a draw.

"So Sonic... I can feel that you're starting to like Rouge." Metal said out of the blue.

Sonic didn't answer quite as soon as he usually does and remained silent for a while. "We're friends; we're supposed to like each other." Sonic said trying not to expose what he really felt. He knew deep inside that there was more to it than that... but he wasn't quite sure yet...

"Although I can feel what you feel Sonic, it's only to a certain extent. I don't want you to end up hurting yourself." Metal said in an comforting tone.

"Don't worry about it Metal..." Sonic said waving his other hand as they continued to play, and still ending in a draw.

Metal nodded as he said to himself that Sonic needed to deal with this himself. "One more thing though..." Metal interrupting Sonic's thoughts. "It's about this game we're playing..."

Sonic raised an eyebrow at him, what's wrong with rock-paper-scissors? "What about it?" Sonic asked Metal.

"Well... you do know that since we're linked to each other this game will always end in a draw, right?" Metal asked his organic twin.

Sonic smiled after getting what his metallic buddy was trying to say. "I know..." Sonic said as they both laughed and continued to play. Meanwhile in the bath house. Rouge was thinking about how she felt about the blue hero. She was reminding herself that they were just friends... and that these 'feelings' she felt was just puppy love...

To be Continued...


	4. Unwanted Alliance

Author's Notes: Nothing much to say really.

Disclaimer: Okay... Sonic and co. doesn't belong to me! They belong to the dudes and dudettes at SEGA!

Unlikely Bonds (Chapter 4)  
- Unwanted Alliance -  
by Cattz Salzarrotta

As Sonic and Rouge struggle with they're indecisive feelings... a certain mad scientist has been keeping himself busy after leaving Station Square the day before. "What to do... I can't seem to get in touch with any of my former allies..." Eggman said out loud as he flipped through some books. He then slammed his fist on the desk and caused some of the books to fall off. "I can't let that blasted hedgehog get ahead of me against the suit guys..." he said frustratingly. He then stood up and started to pace around angrily. "Got to think of something..." he said out loud again.

Eggman liked to talk to himself out loud whenever he was alone. Some say it's a weird trait to have. But would you argue with a man who has an IQ of 300? As he continued to pace around an idea came to him. "I could always just rebuild Metal Sonic." he said, but as he did, he realized how old that plan has gotten. The materials needed to make Metal was already a hassle to deal with and the programming part takes almost a day to do. And the disappearance of the last model from the Egg Fleet incident means that he had to reprogram everything from scratch. That would take months to do! And time was apparently against him... he then proceeded to scratch his head frantically. (More like rubbing frantically, since he WAS bald after all...)

The day before, when he announced to Sonic his challenge his efforts on finding suitable candidates to aid him were proving difficult... they're all either preoccupied, captured by the suit guys, or they didn't want to answer back... Eggman has been looking over phone numbers of his former allies, bounty hunters, and mercenaries. He also left messages at the local bounty hunter and mercenary guild to see if any would take his offer... but none have called back so far.

The Eggbots were of course always an option. But because he needed them to protect the base from another possible attack he couldn't use any of them on actual assaults against the suit guys. He needed people to work for him on this mission. And knowing Sonic already had Rouge on his side means that he's already ahead on the contest... This just frustrated Eggman further. After a while of pacing around in frustration, the phone rang... who could that be? He thought as he walked up to the phone and picked it up. "Hello?" He said as he listened for a response. "Hello Doctor. It's me Bark."

Eggman was slightly surprised by the caller. Bark wasn't the talkative type, he's usually calm and very silent. "You know why I called... so how much does it pay." Bark said making his point straight-forward and clear. Although Eggman left a message to the bounty hunter and mercenary guild about the job, he never expected one of Mammoth Mogul's lackeys to accept the offer; he was feeling very skeptical about Bark's intentions. "What exactly are you're intentions..." Eggman asked the mercenary.

"Well, me and Bean haven't been getting any action lately, and we're mercenaries. We work for anyone who pays." Bark said.

Eggman still wasn't sure... but unfortunately he needs all the help he can get if he wants to beat his rival at their little 'contest'... "Okay you're hired, and if you bring your partner, he's hired too." Eggman said.

"That's all well and good but again, how does it pay?" Bark said sounding uninterested.

Eggman sighed a little. Mercenaries... he thought. "I'll pay you're weight in gold as long as the job is done." Eggman said not wanting to lose this opportunity but at the same time sounding like he didn't want to say it. After the Egg Fleet and MeteoTech thing he wasn't sure his bank account was up to it. But his desire to beat Sonic goes beyond money. You'd think a villain would be more interested in money then anything else, but Eggman wasn't like that, his entire life has been devoted to only two things; to conquer the world and beat Sonic while doing it.

Across the phone Bark smirked a little at Eggman's supposed price tag. "Good... let's meet at Casino Park at around seven o' clock." Bark said sounding happy about the deal.

"Fine." Eggman Replied as he hung up the phone.

Back on the other side of the line, Bark looked over to Bean who was tinkering with a time bomb on his work bench. "He said he'll pay our weight in gold." The yellow polar bear said.

Bean turned around on his chair to face his partner "Well, what are we waiting for!? Let's go!" The green duck said sounding excited and they both went off to meet with Eggman.

*---*

As the clock closed in on seven Bean and Bark drew closer to Casino Park. The trip there wasn't exactly silent... Bean, being himself, couldn't shut his beak about how much money they were gonna make. "...I could care less what the job is so long as the pay is good. Besides what's a couple of bruises to our weight in gold! I mean come on!" Bean said as he continued to babble. Bark just remained silent throughout the trip. Which was typical of him. He only answers Bean with nudges and nods. But like earlier he is capable of speech if the situation calls for it.

Meanwhile, Eggman was waiting for the two mercanaries near the entrance of Casino Park. He paced around as he rubbed his brow in an annoyed manner. He came an hour early and has been keeping much to himself most of the time. The attendants near the entrance wear getting more or less restless by his presence, they were obviously scared because they knew who he was. But even with that they still had their jobs to uphold. So they often go towards the doctor to ask him to play in the casino or offer expensive beverages. At first Eggman's answers to the attendants were polite. But as they continued to pester him his replies changed to a more irrate tone. But as the doctor grew more irritated of the attendants to the point where he felt like pulling out his blaster gun. The two showed up on the spot.

The two stepped off the car and went over to Eggman who looked seemingly irritated. "What's up with you?" Bean said pointing a finger at the doctor. "Nothing. Let's just talk on how to go about this agreement." Eggman said in a half-growl.

Bean dismissed whatever reason caused the doc's irritation and went on with they're business. "Okay then! We'll help you sort out whatever this job is and you pay us! How simple is that!" Bean said brightly and simply. Bean wasn't exactly bright. And his response to the doctor's want ad is an example of that. When he saw the ad up on the mercaneries guild's job board he saw Eggman's name and didn't even bother with the details. Knowing the doctor's reputation for demanding help for dangerous assignments. But he pays in high amounts of cash, and that's more than enough reason for Bean to agree. He's definately not the sharpest tool in the shed. In fact he was noted to be crazy. He almost never takes anything seriously and he almost never shuts up. But despite that, he still manages to accomplish jobs perfectly along side his partner Bark.

Bark on the other hand is almost Bean's opposite in terms of personality. He actually thinks things through. But he often just goes with whatever his partner says. Even though he knows something will go wrong. Some might doubt their partnership, but some say they go together like peanut butter and jelly... wrapped in fists and explosives...

Eggman smacked his hand on his forehead. The headache he got from the clerks were combining with his uneasiness of hiring the two mercenaries. And the words 'What exactly was I thinking when I agreed to this' ran across his mind. Mental stress was something he hated more than Sonic. "Okay... as long as you two are in agreement, that's fine with me. Let's just head to my base and I'll explain the job." Eggman said as he led the two towards his Egg Mobile making a mental note to eliminate those clerks when this is all over.

As they flew off in the distance Eggman explained the situation from what happened yesterday. "So basically all you two need to do is act as my 'teammates' and help me foil the suit guys plans before Sonic does." Eggman said finishing his explanation. The two's reactions are their typical reactions; Bark remained silent as he crossed his arms and Bean just nodded rapidly.

"As long as I get paid to blow stuff up, It's fine with me! Am I right Bark!?" Bean said nudging at Bark.

"Yeah." the bear replied sternly and almost monotonously. The trip was short as Eggman raced off to his secret base located near Bingo Highway.

The base was like a private casino room. Exclusive to Eggman of course. The room was brightly lit with blue neon, much like the rest of Bingo Highway. There were chairs and couches spread everywhere shaped like casino chips. Slot machines lined most of the left wall and a giant glass window in the far corner that gave them a grand view of the outside facilities. The floor was covered with carpets which complemented the room's high class aura and the walls were glass with neon bulbs all over it which gave the room it's blue glow. There were also paintings of Eggman wearing expensive suits hanging on the walls.

But as remarkable as the room looked, Bean was only paying attention to the giant refrigerator in the right corner of the room near the lavatory. "Mind if I crash the fridge?" Bean asked the doctor rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

Eggman sighed and stretched his arm forward. "Help yourself..." Eggman said and like a kid in a candy store, Bean rushed over to the fridge and helped himself. As his partner indulged in they're employer's supply of food. Bark went over to a couch and sat.

*---*

Eggman went over to one side of the room and pulled out some papers from a drawer. He then began writing down they're next course of action as he went over to sit across Bark. "Okay... since I already told you about the suit guys and everything they've done since yesterday. I think we should go pay one of their bases a visit." Eggman said as he continued to write things down.

"So the suit guys already have bases... how many are there?" Bark asked the doctor. "Well, they have at least three for now. But they may make more soon. It would be in our best interest to slow them down a bit." Eggman said as he finished writing the first paper and flipped to the next. "And since they captured some people, it would also be a good idea if we go save them." Eggman finished.

Bark raised an eyebrow questioningly at what he heard... Why would Eggman care about some captured people? He thought. "What exactly do you mean by 'saving the captured people'." Bark said while doing a quote-unquote sign with his fingers as he finished his sentence. "That doesn't sound like you at all." Bark said finishing his sentence. Eggman smiled at Bark's remark and pulled out a small black cube from his pocket, which had his usual insignia on it.

Eggman pressed a button on the cube and it started to light up. A beam of light shot out of the top, as it spread out, a giant hologram of a building-like structure appeared before them in a blue-print like image. "This is one of the suit guys bases located near Metal Harbor. They destroyed the area yesterday along with Metal City." Eggman explained. Bark furrowed his eyebrows angrily as Eggman didn't answer his question. "See this area. This is where the captured people are." He pointed a small narrow hallway near the back of the building. "And in that room there▓s a very special prisoner locked away." Eggman continued with a sly grin.

A special prisoner? Who could it be? Bark thought as multiple names of people that Eggman knows pass by his mind.

"This prisoner is none other than Shadow the hedgehog." Eggman said his glasses gleamed as he said so.

Bark's eyes flared open. So that's why he wants to rescue the captured people... Shadow's one of them... "So you want us to go wreck the base, then retrieve Shadow... am I right..." Bark said. He was in par with what the doctor was thinking, Eggman obviously wants to secure Shadow's services. Eggman grinned and then gestured his hand in a 'you got it' manner.

Bean stopped indulging himself long enough to hear what was going on. He placed the last piece of food he was holding back in the fridge and looked over to the two. They were going to rescue that creepy black hedgehog... Bean thought as he remembers seeing several posts and other info about the black hedgehog at the guild. He heard that he works for G.U.N. and should be avoided at all costs. The fact that they're going to 'rescue' this individual more or less gave Bean the shivers. He couldn't help but get involved in the conversation. Thinking that his opinion needed to be heard.

"Why the heck are we rescuing that guy!? He's bad news!" Bean said as he jumped over to one of the seats.

Eggman laughed at Beans's comment. He then stood up and turned around facing the giant window. "I don't need to explain anything. And if I did, I don't think you'd understand." Eggman said as he placed his arms behind him.

Bean tilted his head in response to Eggman's remark. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he feels kind of insulted... or at least he thought he was... he felt like giving the doc a bomb but Bark placed his hand on Bean's shoulder and shook his head. Though no words were spoken, Bean understood where Bark was getting at.

"Anyway, we'll be leaving in a few hours. And since this is a night mission, I suggest that you two pack up whatever you need from my armory." Eggman said as he pulled out a remote and pointed it at the wall near the slot machines; the walls then opened up and revealed a massive collection of gadgets.

The wall was lined with guns, grenades, lasers, and the lot. It was every gun afficianado's dream... but Bark wasn't interested in any of the gadgets and just huffed as he looked away.

Bean waved his hand in a 'no thanks' manner "I already have a 'seemingly' endless supply of bombs. Why do I need anything else!" he said in his typical way of saying things and completely forgeting what Eggman said to him earlier.

Eggman furrowed his eyebrows and then raised his shoulders as he closed the walls "Suit yourselves..." He said as he walked over to the fridge and pulled out a champagne bottle and a glass. He then situated himself near the window and poured the drink into the glass as he crossed his legs. "So... how are you two at playing bingo?" He asked the two from across the room as he placed the champagne in a small bucket filled with ice that was on the table in front of him.

The two just raised their eyebrows at the doctor. "Why?" Bean asked.

Eggman smiled slyly and twirled his glass. "You two wouldn't mind a friendly game with me?" Eggman asked.

The two walked up to the window and looked at what was happening. They saw that there were three people playing in the bingo lanes, and losing...

"Twenty bucks say that one of them falls..." Eggman said as he placed the money on the table in front of him. The bingo lanes were called 'lanes' for a reason... Bingo Highway was home to the only race based bingo game in Mobius. And being a casino, the lanes were obviously filled with hazards to make people lose... hazards that many didn't come out alive... but that's why they call them games of risk...

Bean grinned and sat beside the doctor as he placed a twenty as well accepting the doctor's challenge. "I say your wrong!" Bean said as they watched the three struggle through the course.

*---*

After a while. The three left for Metal Harbor on the Egg Mobile to execute their plan on disrupting the suit guys. Metal Harbor used to be a very busy place. Often filled with a lot of people walking around and working. Metal City was its neighboring city. So it's no surprise that friendly trades and marketing was often shared between the two. But even with the advancement of technology, it comes as a surprise that Metal Harbor kept some of it's natural beauty. Even if most of the town was technology based, you could still see trees and other greenery around. But when the suit guys took over, the place more or less became an industrial wasteland... the sky was filled with smog from the nearby factory and it gave the city a dark and gloomy appearance. The grass and trees died out and turned a shade of dark chartreuse. Kinda like when vegetables go rotten and change color and shape.

The roads were all covered by the suit guys men. All of them didn't carry any weapons, but they were still very dangerous in hand-to-hand combat. Eggman knew the level of threat the suit guys were first hand. So they flew much higher near the smog so as to not be seen. Eggman took a deep breath and sighed happily. The smog and the condition of the city reminded him of when Mobotropolis was still under the name Robotropolis... "Ah, this sure brings back memories." Eggman said satisfactingly. Bark and Bean on the other hand didn't share Eggman's joy and were coughing heavily at all the smog; Bark was giving Eggman a 'drop dead' look as he did.

Eggman then parked the Egg Mobile a block away from their target point; he didn't want to get caught until they 'liberated' Shadow from the suit guys, so he thought maybe a stealthy approach was in order. They then proceeded to walk towards the base. The streets were filthy. Smog, dirt and grime were everywhere and the sidewalks were even cracked and broken over. The city gave off a post-apocalyptic feeling to the atmosphere. Though both Bark and Bean were mercenaries. They felt somewhat angered by the suit guy's actions on the city.

The path was obviously littered with guards. So Bark took out some of them along the way. Bean, being himself, almost threw a bomb at one of the guards; Eggman stopped the fuse and carried Bean with his hand over the duck's beak as they ventured forth the rest of the way. On arrival at the back entrance Bean struggled free of Eggman's grip and started to jump up and down furiously. He kept going on about the whole thing being the most degrading thing he ever experienced and Eggman argued about Bean's incapability of understanding the meaning of being 'stealthy'. Bark shushed the two as he looked around if the cost is clear. Seeing that the coast was clear he signaled the two to follow and made they're way inside the facility.

The back entrance led them to a very dark room and probably the most ignored part of the base. There were barely any lights around the room and the place had that bad wet smell... they're footsteps echoed in the room showing that the place was completely empty. "It's kinda dark..." Bean said trailing behind the two. Eggman snubbed at Bean's comment. Of course it's dark... imbecile... Eggman said to himself. As they traversed the room they noticed that the room was larger then it seems. The darkness filled the room so thickly that even a nocturnal being would have difficulty navigating the room. Eggman thought a little illumination is in order, so he pulled out the holographic map cube and tried to locate where they are and to light up the room a little.

"It seems that we're three rooms away from the captives." Eggman said as he pointed at a dot that blinked on the hologram. The hologram's light was very dim, so Eggman then pulled out a flashlight and tossed it to Bark so that he may lead. Much to Bean's dismay.

"Hey! How come you didn't give the light to me instead!" Bean said angrily.

"Because you are too incompetent to be relied on." Eggman replied. Bean scratched his head not knowing what 'incompetent' means but he felt it to be another insult.

"Well you're mustache sucks!" Bean retorted and Eggman laughed at Bean's come back which just made Bean even angrier. Bark walked up to Bean and bopped him on the head.

"Ow! What did I do?" Bean said. Bark remained silent and walked away towards the darkness; Eggman followed and pointed the direction of where the door may be while Bean followed grumbling to himself in frustration.

As they made their way to the door that leads to the next room. Bark pulled on the handle to open it. But the door didn't budge. It was obviously locked. Bark handed the flashlight to Eggman as he gripped the handle with two hands. He took a deep breath as he braced himself to rip the door open. With great strength he pulled on the handle and broke the door off its hinges almost instantly. He then threw the door aside. The room through the door was better lit then the room they were in earlier and as they peered into the room they found an assembly line. But instead of weapons or gadgets, the assembly line was carrying off the suit guys themselves! "What the heck..." Eggman said in shock. He couldn't believe what he saw...

the suit guys weren't guys at all... they were being mass produced! They dangled lifelessly from where they were as they slowly traveled around the assembly line. "What could this mean...?" Eggman whispered as his eyes traveled the assembly line to find the source. He became even more shocked at what he saw... his jaw dropped as he saw the large and seemingly organic structure to the far corner of where the assembly line started. It was like a giant body organ resembling somewhat of a human spleen or liver, or both combined. He deduced that it was organic as it moved around slowly from where it was bolted down as if it could breath. He watched as it flashed an eerie green light as the top opened like a flower and a strange green goo-like thing came out. The goo launched high in the air and was caught by a giant mechanical arm. The arm carried the goo into a one of the empty suits in the corner and then hanged the suit on the assembly line.

At the end of the assembly line a bunch of other suit guys were carrying a strange green gem and then they placed it inside the suit along with the goo. The suit then stopped being lifeless as it took shape and straightened itself up from where it hanged. The other suit guys then took him off the assembly line and 'talked' to him in a strange gurgling sound and the newly created suit guy nodded as it went off to the next room.

Unbelievable as it was. The suit guys didn't even take that much notice to the noise that they made from breaking the door. But Eggman knew that it was a matter of time before they did notice. He backed off a little as he dragged the two along with him back into the room they were in.

"Hey! What-" Bean said but was unable to finish as Bark placed his hand over the duck's beak. Eggman then brought the two to a dark corner and switched off the flashlight. "What ya do that for?" Bean said as he adjusted his scarf as it got tighter when Eggman pulled on it.

"We won't be able to get to the next room without being seen. I suggest we find an alternative route to where the captives are, or maybe an alternative way of getting through the room." Eggman said in a serious tone.

"So what do you have in mind?" Bark said as he crossed his arms. Eggman then rubbed his chin as he tried to think of something.

Bean went slightly wide eyed as a smirk ran across his face. This is my chance to prove to Egg-head over here that I'm more useful then he gives me credit for! "Hey! Why don't I distract the suit guys while you two go and head over to the next room!" Bean said to the two as he nodded at himself seemingly proud.

Eggman took Bean's suggestion and gave it some consideration. Hmm... it may not be so bad... While he distracts the suit guys. Me and Bark will make our way to save Shadow. The idea wasn't bad, he thought, but what he liked about it was the fact that Bean was going to fight the suit guys by himself. That's one less mercenary to pay... he thought evilly. "You're not so useless after all." Eggman said to Bean with an evil grin.

"I have my moments." Bean said proudly without realizing Eggman's intentions. Bark gave a worried look to Bean. Even though they were mercenaries, Bean was still his partner and he couldn't help feel uneasy about the plan. Bean saw Bark's look and waved at him to not worry. "No worries Bark. I'll be fine." Bean said sounding like nothing could go wrong. But Bark still felt uneasy.

*---*

Bean made his way inside the room and slowly made his way towards the organic machine. He then pulled out one of his bombs and threw it towards the machine. The resulting explosion caused numerous suit guys that were present from both the room and some from the next room to rush towards the problem. The hollow suits that rode along the assembly line fell from their hooks and the goo inside poured out making a mess as the floor was now covered in goo. As the suit guys found the source of the problem, which was the green duck himself, Bean started throwing bombs at them at high velocity. He laughed and taunted at the suit guys so as to catch they're attention. All the while Eggman and Bark stealthily made they're way through the ensuing madness and towards the next room. Bark looked back towards Bean, his uneasiness returning. He felt a little guilty letting the little green dude handle this alone. But as a mercenary he has to place his personal life away from his professional one. He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth and then turned towards they're intended goal making a silent promise to be back for Bean as soon as he can...

The room that the captives were in was like a giant prison. The room was littered with different cells of various sizes and each one different to incorporate special prisoners with certain qualities to hold them down. Each cell contained at least one prisoner. As the two made they're way around the prison to find Shadow, a thought came to Eggman... Why did the suit guys need prisoners for? He shook his head as he reminded himself to think about it later and focus on looking for Shadow.

They checked every cell as they went across the room. No sign of that black hedgehog... Bark thought as they continued to look around. The room was like a long hallway going straight. Which was a typical prison setup, but unlike real prisons this prison had a more medieval setup to it, but still having a modernistic touch. As they reached the end of the room, and the last six cells, they saw Shadow shackled to the wall with his head down in a prison cell with white bars to they're right. Eggman screeched to halt causing Bark to crash on him and they both fell to the floor. The ensuing noise made Shadow looked across his cell with one eye. And as he did, he saw the toppled over doctor and yellow bear on the floor. He snapped open both of his eyes in shock. Unbelievable... of all the people to rescue me... he thought displeasingly. As Eggman and Bark stood up and brushed off the dirt that they caught, they looked at the black hedgehog as a grin formed underneath Eggman's mustache.

"It's funny to see you like this Shadow." Eggman said arrogantly. Seeing Shadow dangle helplessly like this gave him a feeling of superiority. He grinned as he felt it to be a perfect situation to get Shadow to owe him a favor.

Shadow snubbed at the doctor. He knew why Eggman was here, it doesn't take a genius to figure out Eggman's intentions to rescue an enemy who just happens to be in trouble. "You and I both know why you're here doctor. And no, I'm not going to be you're lackey." Shadow said turning his head. Eggman chuckled at the hedgehog's awareness.

"I guess I couldn't fool you. But what puzzles me is why you can't escape... surely by using Chaos Control, you could easily escape this cell... unless..." Eggman said sounding curious at first but as he thought about it more, he noticed that Shadow's cell had white bars...

The other cells had regular black ones... He placed his hand on one of the bars trying to think about what's so special about the bars. He pieced together the facts and then realized why Shadow, though capable of escaping, chose to stay in his cell.

"These bars... you can't use you're Chaos Control ability here can you?" Eggman said grinning evilly.

Shadow huffed at Eggman's statement. He already knew that... "I'm guessing these bars have some kind of special powers that, apperantly, nullifies you're Chaos powers... interesting..." Eggman said fascinated by the technology the suit guys had... but his admiration was cut short by Bark coughing at the doctor, indicating that this was no time to do these kinds of things.

Eggman acknowledged Bark's remark and quickly went back to nagotiating with Shadow. "So Shadow. What will it be?" Eggman said still grinning over Shadow's helplessness.

"Hmph... don't think I'll agree to anything you'll say just because I'm in an unconvinient situation..." Shadow said trying to keep what little pride he still had.

Though Shadow has some respect for Eggman. He didn't respect him enough to work for him. He respects him, but hates him as well.

"Ho ho! Don't be like that Shadow. Think about it for a second. You certainly don't want to remain in this cell forever. And you certainly can't face those suit guys alone. Having this on their side gives them an anvantage over you." Eggman said knocking one knuckle on one of the white bars "You rely on you're Chaos powers far too much Shadow..." Eggman said with an air of confidence.

Shadow lowered his head thinking about Eggman's offer... it's true he didn't want to remain here... it's also true that he couldn't face the suit guys alone... a temporary alliance wouldn't be so bad. He'll work with Eggman for now and then leave him after they escape.

"Alright... but this is only temporary." Shadow said.

"Fair enough." Eggman said grinning broadly. He knew Shadow was going to say that, and he knows that the moment they leave the factory Shadow will make his escape. But Eggman didn't have an IQ of three hundred to not have a plan to get Shadow to work for him. He knows how to bend people to his will... or at least tempt them into servitude.

Eggman ordered Bark to break Shadow's cell bars and shackles. Even though the bars had the ability to render Shadow helpless. They weren't strong enough to resist brute strength.

"Powerful... but not durable..." Eggman said grabbing a few pieces and places it inside his coat pocket.

Shadow rubbed his wrists as he felt relieved to have them off. He checked his hover boots to see if the suit guys did anything to it when he was captured. Truth be told, Shadow loved these boots. They were the only things that he had that reminded him of Professor Gerald and Maria. They were after all the closest he ever had to a family. As he nodded at the two indicating that he was ready to leave, they all exited Shadow's cell.

As they were about to leave the prison, a female voice shouted at them from the cell across Shadow's... As the three of them went for a closer look. Something jumped near the front of the cell and gripped the bars tightly. "Hey! Over here!" The prisoner said.

That voice... Shadow recognized who it was. As they looked at the person inside the cell more closely they recognized who it was from her red dress and pink fur...

"Well hello there. Mind if you boys help a little lady get out of this creepy cell." The prisoner said in a sweet innocent tone with her lip curled o' so cutely.

"How about no." Eggman said in a smarmy way.

The pink fuzz ball changed her innocent expression to an angrier look. "That's no way to treat a lady!" she growled at the doctor.

"You sure don't act like one though." Eggman retorted.

She then let go of the bars and placed her hands on her hips "And what▓s that supposed to mean!" She said even more angrily.

Shadow pushed the doctor aside and faced the pink hedgehog. "Don't worry, I'm here to help." Shadow said to her.

She pointed her attention to the black hedgehog and clasped her hands together and smiled. "Thank you Shadow." she said switching back to her sweet innocent tone.

Shadow then gestured to Bark to break the cell door. But Bark remained stif and turned to Eggman of what he should do. It's obvious as to where Bark's loyalty was, even if it wasn't real. Eggman gave a 'go ahead' gesture and Bark nodded.

*---*

After busting the pink hedgehog out of her cell they all agreed to talk later and escape now. As they left the cells and reached the exit, Bark was the first to reach the exit as he was worried about his partner. As he looked on though he gave a smile as he saw Bean holding his own against the suit guys and giving them the worst bombing off their lives.

This caught Eggman by surprise as he was behind Bark and the second to see the green duck. Didn't think he was that tough... Eggman thought.

Bark huffed. Why do I even bother worrying... he said to himself as he rushed towards his partner's aid. Eggman rose his arms in protest to Bark's actions but was left ignored. Seeing Bark and Bean pound the goo out of the suit guys made the doctor look useless. He then gave a 'what the heck' gesture and pulled out his blaster to join in. We were planning to blow the place up anyway... Eggman thought to himself and pelted a couple of suit guys with his blaster.

Not one to be out done, Shadow joined the three and showed them why Gerald called him the ultimate life-form as he used his Chaos Spear to kill several suit guys in a row. Man... that feels great... Shadow said to himself happily. Being locked up by the suit guys for twenty four hours and left powerless really stressed him out... No sooner than a couple of minutes, the base was reduced to ruins.

After the whole endeavor. Everyone found themselves walking over to Eggman's Egg Mobile. Which was parked a block away from where they were.

"Well, this is where I get off." Shadow said as he turned to walk away.

"Wait a minute Shadow. What about that temporary alliance we talked about?" Eggman said turning towards Shadow in a worried tone and acting like he wasn't expecting Shadow to say that.

"Humph. As far as I'm concerned, doctor. That stunt we pulled in the factory WAS the temporary alliance. So I have no other reason to be involved with you." Shadow said as he continued to walk away.

Eggman rummaged around his person looking for something... "Aha!" he said as he pulled out a data disc. "Do you want to know more about yourself, Shadow?" Eggman said slyly. He found this disc a couple of months ago. Just more data about Project: Shadow. Initially he thought it was just extra data. So he never really intended on using it as a bargain item. But after reading the data he saw something... interesting about Shadow...

Shadow sighed and stopped for a moment. More stuff about my past... Shadow said to himself. "Look. If you're trying to buy my services with more of Gerald's data, then you're out of luck. I already know everything I need to know about Black Doom and everything else." Shadow said coldly at the doctor and he continued to leave. Eggman smirked.

"That I pretty much already know, Shadow. But have you ever wondered why Gerald made you hedgehog?" Eggman said trying to gain Shadow's interest. Shadow smirked at the doctor's words "I don't think knowing why I'm a hedgehog would have any major effect on my life."

Eggman laughed, which caused Shadow to turn around and face the doctor in angrily. "Oh, is that so? I assure you, the data on this disc can say otherwise. Trust me." Eggman said to which Shadow snubbed at as he crossed his arms.

As she watched the two exchanged words. The pink hedgehog couldn't help but get involved. "Umm... what exactly is inside the disc?" she asked the doctor. Surprised by this, Eggman turned to face the pink fuzz ball with his eyebrow raised.

Why would she be interested in this? Eggman thought. Coincidently Shadow was thinking the same thing and seeing they're shared expressions she knew what they were thinking. "Well, if you two must know. I'm only curious if the disc involves my beloved Sonic!" She said as she pouted.

Eggman laughed. "Ho ho! Believe it or not, there's some truth to what you just said!" Eggman said still having a kind of laughing tone.

Shadow's eyes widened. Sonic's involved... why...? Darn it Amy, why'd you have to say that... Shadow said furrowing his eyebrows in frustration. Eggman saw this and felt that he got the black hedgehog in the palm of his hand... At first the situation wasn▓t really in his favor, and it was unlikely that Shadow was going to work with him... but thanks to Amy, Shadow ended up thinking twice about the matter...

"Well Shadow? What will it be?" Eggman said waving the disc tauntingly.

This is just great... once again I have been forced into someone's service through the manipulation of my past... Shadow thought. "How do I even know if that disc belongs to Gerald? What if it's just a fake that you made to get me to work for you." Shadow said sourly, trying to escape Eggman's grip on him. Eggman stopped waving the disc as a slight frown appeared on his face. He then opened the container and showed it to Shadow.

"Being a member of my family. We Robotnik's like to place our insignia on everything we own. That is proof that we own that particular item. Each insignia is different for each member and connot be copied by any means necessary. The reason for this is because it carries a microscopic personalization code embedded on the insignia itself. In other words, this data disc has Gerald's name 'literally' written all over it." Eggman stated closing the container with a loud snap.

Shadow crossed his arms as he thought about it. He was conflicted between his need to know his past and his hatred towards working for Eggman... in the end he decided to agree... curiosity got the better of him... and Sonic's involvement was the cherry to this sundae of temptation... But he wasn't going to work for Eggman for long... he only needed to snatch the data disc...

"Okay Doctor... I'll work for you, on the condition that no harm will come to that disc and no bossing around." Shadow said walking up to Eggman and poking his finger at the doctor's chest.

Eggman shoved Shadow's hand away and grinned. With Shadow subservient to me, I'll have no problem beating that blue rodent! He said to himself feeling triumphant. "Agreed Shadow. But you will have to follow my orders to the letter." He said placing the disc back in his coat pocket.

Shadow narrowed his eyebrows as he slowly nodded. After the deal was done, all four of them hopped on the Egg Mobile and prepared to leave. But Amy decided that she wanted to find Sonic on her own.

"Are you sure you'll fine by yourself?" Shadow asked the pink hedgehog.

"Of course! If I'm gonna marry Sonic one day, I have to learn to do things on my own!" She said proudly. She then turned around and started running towards the opposite direction of where Eggman was going. Shadow shrugged his shoulders and sat beside Bark as they took off, all the while Shadow was planning on how to grab the data disc off of Eggman...

To be Continued...


	5. Forgiveness and Friendship

Author's Notes: I tried to see what would happen if I cut my chapters in halves. I also started adding titles to the chapters. Again feel free to point out mistakes. Constructive Critisism is the pathway to a great story.

Disclaimer: Sonic and co. don't belong to me! They belong to the dudes and dudettes at SEGA!

Unlikely Bonds (Chapter 5-1)  
- Forgiveness and Friendship -  
by Cattz Salzarrotta

A lone figure stood on top of a hill as he felt the winds blow across his golden fur. The winds... they're starting to pick up... could it be a sign? A sign of things to come? Humph... as if I really needed a sign to tell me that. The figure said to himself with silent words.

How long has it been? Two... three thousand years? It's easy to lose track of time when you're sealed away... I wonder what he's up to, now that he's free... probably trying to amass an army to take over the world again... The figure continued as he thought deeply about another mysterious stranger.

I wonder if time has diminished his powers as well... He said as he stared off at the sky hoping that it could answer his questions. But the sky was silent, save for the breeze that cooled his fur. He hasn't felt this kind of breeze for a long time... it offered him a lot of things to appreciate about. But he didn't have time to do these sort of things. He has more important things to do... he pulled out his sword from its sheath and raised it the sky, and in a split second he vanished... in thin air...

As the mysterious figure disappeared, we return our focus to a more familiar trio. After they're stop at Knothole, we find them driving off towards Mobotropolis to meet with the princess at high speed. They hope that the princess could help them in they're quest to stop the black suited figures that have been the most recent bane to the planet.

It's only been a day since the fall of Station Square and already these villains have conquered both Metal Harbor and Metal City. Well, maybe not Metal Harbor since it was retaken recently by the efforts of Dr. Eggman. But that information is yet to be known by the trio. With that aside, the suit guys are still a force to be feared. They had to be stopped... who knows what would happen if they were left unchecked. Mobotropolis was far, but not that far. But to say the least, it would be a while before they reach the city.

Metal was at the back of the car double checking his weapons system and Rouge was up front fixing up her make-up, to which Sonic couldn't help but look at. There was just something fascinating about a beautiful woman putting on make-up. Though he liked it better if Rouge didn't have make-up at all. Rouge took notice of the hedgehog's brief stare. But even a brief stare can trigger Rouge's instinctive response.

"Like what you see?" she said seductively. She enjoys doing that. It's her specialty, to charm and deceive to get what she wants at the expense of others. She's such a siren. But Sonic was one of those very few who aren't easily swayed to her charms. Either she's losing her touch or maybe there's another reason as to why.

Sonic laughed after Rouge said what she said. "Rouge, you never change." Sonic said in his regular tone of voice. "You know I don't think that way about you." Sonic continued.

"And why is that? Don't you find me attractive?" Rouge said, still trying to sound seductive.

"I do find you attractive. But I don't treat women like that. Especially my friends." Sonic said casually.

"Well aren't you the gentleman." Rouge said going into a more casual mood. But after Sonic told her she was attractive, it gave her pause to think about what he said. He thinks I'm attractive, but doesn't wish me any disrespect. Rouge said to herself. She has never been treated that way before. To most men, she was just another beautiful woman that they want to get in bed with. But Sonic did not treat her as such. Though Knuckles displayed the same features, Sonic showed more of it. I guess that's just the way he is... she thought as she gave a mental smile to herself.

"You really are unique..." Rouge said with a smile.

"You are too... Rouge..." Sonic replied also with a smile.

Even after being friends, they still went on acting like themselves towards each other. But they seem to have grown more casual and more open towards each other as well. Unlike back then that the only times they talk to one another are just chanced encounters. They really have grown fond of each other as friends. Underneath that though, there are feelings that go deeper than friendship... though nether wants to admit it just yet... they still haven't decided if these feelings are genuine or just a minor infatuation.

*---*

As they drove off towards Mobotropolis, Sonic couldn't help but feel like someone was following them... he looked around a little trying to find whatever it was following them. He doesn't see anything... but he knew better than to trust what his eyes was telling him, he's been in these situations before and he's learned that what you can't see doesn't mean it's not there.

"Hey Metal. You think you could scan the area for me." Sonic asked his metal counter-part.

"Sure." Metal replied as he began to scan the area.

As he scanned the area near them, he saw a faint blip on his radar; he scanned it thoroughly as he tried to figure out what it was. Luckily it wasn't one of the suit guys. He adjusted his radar to show the suit guys to appear bright red. This blip whoever appeared yellow on his radar, symbolizing a minimal threat level. But the identity of the blip was still unknown.

"Well, did you find anything yet?" Sonic asked Metal again.

"I'm detecting a faint blip on my radar. But luckily it's not the enemy." Metal said.

"Then what is it." Rouge asked this time.

"I don't know what it is... wait... it's moving faster towards us!" Metal said losing focus of the target as he exited radar mode and started looking around manually.

Sonic tried to stop the car as he started to panic a bit. The car skid across the road as it entered a sudden stop. The rubber tires screeched across asphalt making dark markings on the road and the smell of burnt rubber permeated the air slightly. This sort of thing happens when a car is suddenly stopped in high speed. As the car finally stopped, the momentum caused the trio to almost hit whatever was in front of them.

After collecting themselves from the impact of the sudden stop, All three looked around they're surroundings. Rouge shifted her ears in different directions to find the mysterious figure. Metal went back to radar mode. Sonic just looked around for the culprit. But instead of focusing on where it was, he was more focused on WHO it was... Perhaps it's one of my friends? Or maybe one of my enemies... Sonic thought, still looking around. And as he quickly turned to his left he saw a red and black blur run across the trees.

What could that be? Could it be Shadow? Sonic thought as he tried to lock on to the figure that was running circles around them. Suddenly, without warning, the mysterious being jumped out of the trees and dived towards the trio.

Sonic and Rouge didn't react fast enough to face the being as they were left off-guard staring at the figure as it leapt in the air with it's arms outstretched and holding a dagger at each hand. As the mysterious assailant looked as if it could eliminate Sonic and Rouge at that very moment... Metal was already two steps ahead of the mysterious assailant. Metal rose up from his seat and stretched his robotic arm out and grabbed the assailant by its neck in mid-air. The assailant gagged as its neck laded exactly at Metal's grip. Metal's grip on the assailant tightened, as his anger rose looking at the being and causing the assailant to drop it's daggers to the ground below.

"No one harms my friends..." Metal told the assailant coldly with malice in his tone.

Even though Metal was free of most of his programming, he still had his previous commands to ensure the safety of whoever he was with. And since Sonic and Rouge are the most important people to him, he didn't hesitate to strangle the assailant. Strangling the life out of someone was just second nature to him. It was in his programming... He has been trapped within his programming for years, without any control over anything he does. And it filled him with so much anger and hatred over himself as he did everything that the doctor told him to do... Being mentally and emotionally linked to Sonic meant that he also had Sonic's conscience... and it pained him to do the things that he did... When he finally broke free of the doctor's control at one point, he still couldn't break free from his programming, and he continued his evil ways... and that filled him with even more hatred towards himself... but now that he's completely free of his accursed programming, and finally making friends, he wasn't going to let anyone take away what he now holds dear in the world...

He looked at the assailant, anger still apparent in his eyes as he tightened his grip further. He wanted to eliminate this being... but when he saw the being gasp for air in his metal hands, a rush of words passed his mind... 'Calm down... you're not a killing machine anymore...' the words said. He didn't know where they came from, but he knew that what those words said were true. His anger dissipated as he came to that realization... he tried to loosen his grip, but he found it slightly difficult... he didn't know why he was having so much difficulty. He was in a position in which he was about to kill another living being! He should've stopped himself sooner. But he didn't... It was what his programming told him to do...

No! I'm not going to listen to what my old programming tells me! He shouted in his mind. He then loosened his grip as he fought the urge to eliminate the assailant. The assailant took a mighty breathe as it finally found the ability to breath. As he watched the assailant breath at high speed trying to regain the lost air in its lungs, Metal felt Sonic's hand on his shoulder.

"Calm down..." Sonic said giving Metal a sympathetic look. Metal agreed with Sonic and gave him a nod. He then released his grip and caused the assailant to drop to the ground. Afterwards Metal looked at Sonic, with shame in his eyes.

"You're right... I should learn to control myself..." He said with shame over his incapability to resist his programming.

"Don't beat yourself up..." Sonic said as he patted the robot's back and jumped off the car.

Rouge and Metal followed suit, and met with Sonic, who was looking at they're mysterious assailant.

The assailant was a woman... a familiar woman that Sonic has dealt with several times in the past. She wore a short leather tank-top with a pair of leather pants and leather fingerless gloves, which was all colored black. She also wore a pair of black leather steel-toed boots with silver belts across her waist. She was a fox... literally a fox! She had red fur and brown hair, which was combed to look spiky, and on that brown head was a cute yellow bow.

The bow alone could tell her identity... it was the only thing she kept of her past... but she didn't keep it to remind her of something happy... rather, she kept it to remind her why she hated a certain blue hedgehog...

She sat there, on the ground as she gave Sonic a venomous stare of hatred. A stare that Sonic has seen before. Though it was Metal that strangled her, she directed all her attention and anger towards Sonic, as if it was he who did it. Sonic didn't really care where she directed that anger, he cared more about her. Sonic knelt on the ground as he reached towards the vixen to see if she was hurt. As he did, the vixen smacked Sonic's hand away with great force and anger. Sonic retreated his hand slowly as he looked at her with concern in his eyes. But her eyes didn't return Sonic's kindness; her eyes were filled with anger. Anger that has manifested itself inside of her for years... How he hated when she stared at him that way...

How he wished that she didn't look at him that way... It hurt him to see her look at him that way... It always reminds him of that day when he left her at the hands of Robotnik when they were captured. But he has learned to live with that mistake a long time ago. She on the other hand has never let go of her hatred for being left behind.

Rouge and Metal looked at the woman from where they stood. Each of them knew who she was as well. But they each had a different recollection of her... But Sonic knew her better then the two...

"After all this time you still want to kill me?" Sonic said gently so as to calm her. She just remained silent as she continued her hateful gaze.

"Aren't you going to talk? The least you could-" Sonic was about to say something but was cut-off by the fox as she rose up and charged at the blue hedgehog, her hands poised to ring his neck. Metal and Rouge rushed to tackle her, but they stopped as they saw Sonic's hand behind him to tell them to halt their assault.

They wondered why he wanted them to stop. But the answer became plain as they looked at what the vixen did more carefully. Her hands were curled to strangle Sonic, but she didn't... she stopped mid-way towards Sonic's neck... Why did she stop? The two of them thought.

Sonic didn't even flinch when she rose up to attack him... almost as if he knew... and almost as if he wanted it to happen... She wanted to ring his neck. But she couldn't... She gritted her teeth as she retreated her hands slowly. "Why?" She said as she kneeled and lowered her head slowly.

"Why what?" Sonic said simply as if unfazed by the situation.

"Why didn't you try to stop me!?" She said sounding angry and hurt.

Sonic closed his eyes. "Because I know that you're not that type of person..." Sonic said, again with his gentle voice. A voice that called out to her past... a voice that she only heard when she and Sonic were still friends...

"You don't know me..." She said as her voice started to crack. Why... why did he have to say that... she thought to herself sadly and angrily.

"I know you... Fiona..." Sonic said as he smiled and gave the vixen a hug.

She was caught off guard by Sonic's actions. She wanted to push him away... but... somewhere deep down she didn't want to... She couldn't remember the last time someone gave her a hug... But after what she's been through, hugs shouldn't have even affected her... but Sonic's hug wasn't just any plain hug... Sonic's arms felt strong, but gentle as it encircled her... his hug gave her a strange warmth... it also made her feel protected. It was like nothing in this world could harm her... it was a hug that she never thought she'd feel... She felt like she didn't even deserve it...

"After all this time... you still consider me a friend?" She said sadly as tears started to form from the back of her eyes.

"As far as I'm concerned, we've always been friends..." Sonic said as he smiled. Fiona was shocked at what he said...

She couldn't believe it... even after all the things she's done... he still cared for her... she has betrayed his trust, broke his heart, joined the Suppression Squad, and attempted to kill him on multiple occasions and he still cared for her... maybe... no... he still couldn't be forgiven...

"I still can't forgive you for leaving me behind when were kids..." Fiona said as she clenched her fist and closed her eyes.

Sonic tightened his hug as a tear trickled down his cheek which landed on Fiona's head. "I know... but I'd still forgive you no matter what you do to me... even if you really did kill me..." He said with all his heart.

Her eyes snapped open and a gasp escaped her lips. His words... She could feel it... the sincerity in his voice... there was no doubt that he wasn't lying... Not like he would anyway. And it was only now that Fiona truly realized it... He would forgive her no matter what she did... and yet she couldn't even forgive him for only one thing... one mistake... she felt so stupid right now... here was someone who she betrayed and hurt for so long, still found it in his heart to forgive her for everything... He was a saint... and she couldn't believe the way she acted towards him for all these years...

She felt like she needed to atone for what she's done. She normally didn't think or felt this way... at least not anymore... but after what has just transpired right now, she found her cold and bitter heart start to melt. As it did, long forgotten feelings that she kept locked up inside her surged forth from within. And it filled her with so much guilt over everything she has done... I've been such an idiot... she cursed at herself.

"I've been such an idiot..." She said out loud with her voice giving away and the tears that she faught for so long poured out of her as she gripped Sonic's waist with all her might as if he could disappear at any moment... she didn't want him to go away... not after what happened just now... not after finally realizing what she really wanted... She cried her heart out, loudly with all she could as her cries echoed across the forest. Sonic motioned and rested her head on his chest as she continued to cry.

"Let it all out..." He said. And she did...

To be Continued...


End file.
